Edinburgh Council picks CGI for 186 million IT contract

CGI was recently announced as the preferred bidder for the £186 million seven year ICT contract with the City of Edinburgh Council. The deal, with the goal of enabling the Council’s introduction of integrated digital services, will see the firm deliver both the front-end digital channel development for citizens to access public services, as well as wider back-end automation to deliver cost reductions.

The deal with the City of Edinburgh Council sees CGI beat out its competitor Capita to become the ‘preferred supplier’ to provide transformational outsourced ICT services that enable the Council’s introduction of integrated digital services. The ICT contract is worth £186 million over seven years, and will not only facilitate the Council’s digital channel shift, but also deliver efficiency and cost savings of £45 million spread over the contract’s seven year term.

The contract may in part have been won through CGI’s commitment to creating economic opportunities in the region. The consulting firm will create 200 jobs, including 60 apprenticeships – as well as develop a joint innovation fund with the Edinburgh council that seeks to stimulate local SMEs to provide digital and social media services. “CGI has an established business hub in Edinburgh and we will be expanding to create more jobs to support our engagement with the City of Edinburgh Council and its public sector partners,” explains Steve Thorn, SVP CGI UK Public Sector.

Although the contract is set to create jobs as well as stimulate the local market, the crux of the deal will see the consultancy provide three key services:

• Develop front-end digital channels that will allow citizens to access public services and transactions through an online portal.
• Modernise the ICT infrastructure in the city such that schools will be provided with improved bandwidth.
• Implement an ERP system whose aim is to automate and integrate aspects of the council’s back-office functions.

The relatively high value of the end-to-end digital transformation deal is thereby an investment from the local council in the long term reduction of costs through automation and digitalisation by which citizens will be provided access to services through an end-to-end digital channel. “We are delighted to partner with the City of Edinburgh Council as we embark together on this journey to enable the digital transformation of public services throughout Edinburgh,” concludes Thorn. “This is an ambitious programme that will change the way citizens access and use public services and will introduce new ways of working for the Council’s employees, ultimately making their jobs more productive and satisfying.”