Lambeth Business Intelligence
| Sponsor: | London Borough of Lambeth |  |
| Sponsor Liaison: | Noel Hatch and Chris Guthrie | |
| Student Team: | Yenyu Chen, Christopher Fernandez, Benjamin Sarkis, Rachel Whalen | |
| Abstract: | Lambeth, a central borough of London, is undergoing large population growth and a shrinking budget. Thus the Lambeth Council’s services are strained, so they have chosen to integrate a Business Intelligence system to improve efficiency. We encouraged the staff who gather and use data to incorporate this system. We gathered information through interviews and surveys, then used them to develop an integration plan through workshops and a poster. Many staff members do not use the system due to lack of knowledge or perceived uselessness. More workshops, surveys and, interviews will aid the use of this system amongst the council. | |
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Executive Summary
Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence [BI] is a technology-driven process for analyzing data and converting it into useful information. It has helped businesses, corporate executives, governments, councils, and the health industry among other organizations make informed decisions. Several case studies further demonstrated the usefulness of BI.
A suburb in Sweden, called Järfälla Kommun, implemented BI in the contact center of the municipality that improved decision making and the quality of life of its citizens. In addition, a hospital in Southern Taiwan incorporated a BI-based SQL system to streamline information and meet quality standards. Our final case study discussed what factors lead to a successful BI system, using five example organizations. The borough of Lambeth has been developing a new BI system, called the Insight Hub, in order to improve service efficiency and take advantage of the uses of BI. Our project promoted the Insight Hub and improved awareness of BI.
Lambeth’s Profile
Lambeth is the 8th poorest borough in London, with a dense population of 310,000 people. Of the working age population, 80 percent is employed; however, 20 percent are below the poverty line. Lambeth’s budget has been shrinking and will continue to decrease until 2020. The central government expects all boroughs to be self-sufficient at that time and will no longer fund the borough. Combined with the population growth, a low budget drove the need for more efficient services, hence the council’s choice to use a BI based system.
Lambeth’s Administration
The administration of Lambeth dispenses its services through the council and the cabinet. In further detail, Lambeth is split into 3 main services. They are categorized as the Children, Adults and Health services, Neighborhoods and Growth services, and Corporate Resources. Public Health is a service with a more external base, concerning all of London rather than just Lambeth. Our project focused on the commissioners and service managers who are largely responsible for collecting and using data to improve their services. The commissioners draft long term plans for services while the service managers administer the daytoday aspects. Their uses of data differ, but the Insight Hub will benefit both positions and improve service efficiency.
Objective 1: Research staff opinions on the use and analysis of data in Lambeth
Objective 1 developed our understanding of how staff are using data via interviews and a survey. The response rate to our interviews and survey were low due to the current state of flux within the Lambeth Council. Regardless, we had three interviews from different perspectives of the services. We interviewed a Business Control Service Manager who demonstrated limits of Insight Hub. The interview with a BI Analyst illustrated the novelty and lack of awareness of the Insight Hub since it is a new concept in Lambeth. Likewise, we interviewed a BI Team Manager and learned about the Insight Hub as well as its usefulness. We sent out the survey to staff to further comprehend what data they use and their exposure to the Insight Hub. It served as an introduction to the Insight Hub for those who did not hear of it. The information we gathered was then compiled and applied to develop our integration plan for objective 2.
Objective 2: Develop and implement an integration plan of BI in Lambeth
Our integration plan included a workshop and a poster to encourage the use of the Insight Hub. During the workshop, the Lambeth staff discussed their uses and sources of data and how BI and the Insight Hub can impact their work. The workshop explained the meaning and importance of BI and gave staff a hands on experience with the Insight Hub. Workshop evaluations were also given at the end for future improvement. A script and PowerPoint is included for the BI system staff to easily lead these workshops in the future. Furthermore, the poster was created as an additional advertisement for the Insight Hub (See Appendices K and L).
Conclusions
The first outcome that we observed is that some staff members do not understand that they use BI. This caused many problems for scheduling interviews. The commissioners and service managers would mainly not respond, or pass the email along to other staff members who they thought dealt with BI more often. The Insight Hub faced a similar predicament. This will be remedied over time as the Insight Hub continues to be advertised and improved.
After finalizing the interviews and surveys we discovered there were 2 main issues concerning the Insight Hub. Most people did not know about the Insight Hub, and those who did thought it was useless for them. For this reason we came up with three recommendations on how to address these issues.
Recommendations
Advertise the Insight Hub with Posters
More exposure to the concept of the program will increase familiarity, thus allowing more staff members to be open to using the hub. We developed a poster for this purpose as a deliverable (See Appendix N). However, other advertisement methods are possible.
Hold More Workshops
While the poster focuses on increasing awareness of the Insight Hub, workshops address the misunderstandings regarding BI. Discussions between different services about data usage break down communication barriers, allowing for more cohesive BI systems. Additionally, the importance of BI, as well as the definition, can be more easily portrayed in a workshop setting.
Conduct Additional Interviews and Surveys
Due to the novelty of BI, we advise the continuation of interviews and surveys. As BI and the Insight Hub become more incorporated within Lambeth, more information will be needed to improve the BI system as well as to track improvements.