Data Management & Integration Solutions Archives

Top talks from the Care Management Show 2025: Data security, digital futures and the human element of care

Posted on: 11 July 2025

Two weeks ago, the Certa team had the pleasure of attending the Care Management Show. It was a packed day at the NEC Birmingham, full of valuable conversations, inspiring sessions and insightful perspectives on the future of care delivery. We were delighted to connect with so many care providers, commissioners and innovators who stopped by our stand – thank you if you were one of them!

Among the highlights were two standout sessions that sparked real conversation across the show floor. Here’s what we took away.

Fireside chat: Matt Blanche and Laura Goodridge on data security

One of the most compelling conversations of the day came during a fireside chat between our very own Senior Consultant, Matt Blanche, and Laura Goodridge, Group CEO of Home Instead. Their discussion explored the complex and growing challenge of data security in care, touching on everything from technology strategy to frontline awareness.

What made the session so valuable was how clearly it framed data protection as a multifaceted challenge. They talked about the practical pressures of preparing for virtual CQC inspections, where providers must demonstrate both robust data access and ironclad security protocols. They also explored the reputational consequences of a breach – particularly in a sector that depends so deeply on public trust.

Laura and Matt didn’t shy away from real-world examples. From using WhatsApp to experimenting with AI tools like ChatGPT, they underscored that security must be embedded into everyday operational decisions, not just treated as an IT concern.

Another key takeaway was the importance of vetting technology partners. Laura shared how care providers are now interrogating the security credentials of their suppliers, acknowledging that your security is only as strong as your weakest digital link.

Perhaps most importantly, they addressed the human element. How are teams trained? How are carers empowered to recognise threats and respond appropriately? The conversation made clear that security isn’t just about systems. It’s about culture and equipping every staff member with the knowledge to keep client data safe.

It was a timely reminder that security failures don’t just affect organisations, they put vulnerable clients at risk. That’s why we believe security credentials must become a core selection criterion for commissioners and clients alike. Not just: “do you have security measures in place?” but: “have you truly covered every angle?”

At Certa, this session reinforced why we’ve built our care management platform the way we have – with CQC-ready reporting, intuitive user controls and training tools that help staff get security right from day one.

James Bullion on the CQC’s future and the role of technology

Another important talk came from James Bullion, Interim Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Integrated Care at the CQC. His keynote offered a candid look at the CQC’s own challenges and how it is evolving to meet the moment.

Bullion acknowledged the trust gaps and growing pains the CQC has faced over the past year but struck a confident tone about what comes next. A key part of their plan? Technology. He shared how outdated systems had hampered the CQC’s work and announced that new digital assessment tools are in development to better support provider regulation.

The talk also teased the upcoming release of both the NHS’s 10-year plan and the ‘CQC Way’, a refreshed vision for their roles, values and purpose. For providers navigating an increasingly digital and regulated environment, staying close to these developments will be key.

What’s next?

We’ll be back at the Care Show in Birmingham on 8–9 October and we’re already looking forward to reconnecting with many of you there.

In the meantime, if you missed us at the Care Management Show or want to learn more about how Certa supports secure, compliant and people-centred care management, get in touch – we’d love to chat.

7 must have features in home care software

Posted on: 8 July 2025

You might explore home care software based on a specific pain point or set of needs. But what else are you missing out on? Our blog explores.

Many home care providers select their home care software based on a specific need. It might be a need to implement a friends and family portal, digitise their services or more efficiently handle financial management. But home care software can carry a multitude of benefits to home care providers. Whilst addressing specific needs is important, taking a step back and considering the while picture can result in tangible benefits being delivered across your care services. This blog will examine the top 7 features you should look for when examining home care software solutions.

What is home care software?

To begin with, what is home care software? It’s the software that should support every area of your home care delivery. Where client records were recorded and stored on paper, home care software makes the process digital. This makes your services more agile, with the ability to record information on the go, interact with care workers and their schedules, create friends and family portals for your clients and record and share data easily.

Why do I need home care software?

Home care software can deliver a multitude of benefits to your home care services. Perhaps most importantly, however, your clients expect a modern service. Being able to offer outward facing services such as a friends and family portal, updated with real-time information, helps to reassures your clients and their loved ones.

No less important is the consideration of data security. Our previous blog explored the topic of cyber security for home care providers. In short, keeping the data process safe is important from a GDPR and CQC inspection standpoint.

Not only does the CQC want evidence that you’re processing and storing data safely in line with its data security and protection toolkit, but the regulator will also need straightforward access to your data to perform inspections. Being able to easily generate accurate and up-to-date reports from your data is something home care software can support.

What if I don’t need a home care software solution?

Home care software is an important consideration as your business grows. If you’re only caring for a small number of clients with a small number of care workers to manage, then the outlay might not make sense for your business.

As your business grows, however, the complexity of your operation will grow with it. With more clients, more carers and more considerations, it becomes increasingly unmanageable where you rely on manual ways of working. Staying on top of finances, client needs, scheduling, reporting and maintaining an outstanding level of care provision can quickly become overwhelming. Home care software can help you by automating swathes of your business, supporting effective communication and the ongoing delivery of outstanding care.

What you need from a home care software solution

1.Care planning

From onboarding clients into your services to being agile in the face of their shifting needs, your home care software solution should support you in creating, revising and delivering person-centred care plans bespoke to the needs of each client. Being adaptable is key. Demands can change in an instant, so your service needs to be responsive. Your carers also need up-to-date information on each client, ensuring they deliver the right care at the right time,

2. Scheduling your care workers

Once your care plans are established, you need to schedule care workers to deliver them. Home care management software can remove much of the guesswork in scheduling, helping you to respond instantly to short-term changes. This keeps your services on track, makes the most efficient use of your resources and delivers your care plans in the most effective way. From matching the needs of the client to the skills and experience of the care worker, home care software can support you in delivering continuity of care by ensuring that the right people are in the right place at the right time.

3. Record information and communicate in real time

A good home care software solution should provide you with a care worker app. This can be easily downloaded onto the carer’s mobile device and used to complete care visits. As well as equipping your carers with vital context and information on each visit, a care worker app should further support lone worker safety and provide real-time information back to the office. This supports care workers in going about their tasks with confidence, whilst also supporting them in capturing and recording outcomes as they go, removing the need to write up notes and manual data entry.

4. Complete financial management

Having confidence that your care worker pay and funder billing are accurate is essential to the financial health of your home care service. By linking to your care plans and care worker schedules, understanding what has been delivered, home care software can support you in maintaining accurate records of who has done what, when. You can further create timesheets for your care workers, making it easy and accurate for them to log care visits and any travel expenses incurred. By automating much of the process, home care software can reduce friction and human error in your financial management.

5. Create reports on your care services easily

Being able to easily and accurately report on your home care services provides valuable insights on your business. It’s also important for CQC inspections, not least as the first stage of most inspections will be virtual. A good home care software system should provide your service with bespoke dashboards for each user, enabling them to interact with the information they need. When you need insights, they should be easy to obtain from the data you hold across your care services.

6. Friends and family portal

Communicating with your clients and their loved ones is an important and reassuring aspect of modern care delivery. By linking to your care plans and schedules, care software systems can create bespoke, real-time portals through which your clients and their loved ones can see the schedule of their care visits, care due to be administered and care administered.

7. Support, security and compliance

It’s important to consider the team behind your home care software solution. What security certificates do they possess? What ongoing support will you receive with the software? What’s the system uptime availability? How will your data be handled? Given the importance of selecting the right home care software solution, it’s imperative to consider the whole package and select a partner that can support the needs of your business.

How Certa from CACI can support your care service

Certa from CACI is a complete home care management software solution designed to support every facet of care delivery. Whatever support you need in enhancing the delivery of your care services, Certa can help.

Delivering tangible benefits to homecare services by making compliance, consent, auditing, reporting and care plan provision straightforward and streamlined, what difference can Certa make to your homecare services?

You can find out more by booking a no-obligation demo of Certa today.

How to make cyber security simple in your care service

Posted on: 25 June 2025

Running a home care service is complicated enough without throwing the modern concern of cyber security into the mix. This blog will take a closer look at how you can easily, efficiently and effectively manage cyber security in your care service. It doesn’t need to be as complicated, expensive and time consuming as you might assume.

Care services process vast amounts of personal and sensitive data, bringing them under the scope of regulations such as GDPR. Managing cyber security can be a daunting prospect. With a language seemingly all of its own, from phishing and malware to multi-factor authentication and encryption, it can be tricky to navigate for those without a technological background. We will explore how cyber security can be easily managed by care providers. We’ll break down the various considerations and look at simple, effective means of managing it.

What is cyber security and how does it affect care providers?

To begin with, a quick explainer on what cyber security is. Cyber security is the function of protecting the devices we use, such as computers and smartphones, and the services we access via them, from theft and malicious intent.

For example, if you or one of your care workers loses or has their smartphone stolen, you need to have measures in place to prevent access to sensitive information on the device. This covers everything from banking apps to your care plans. We’ll look at how this can be easily achieved.

Why is cyber security important for care providers?

Care providers process and record a lot of sensitive, personal information on the clients in their care. It is essential that this data is protected from theft, misuse or breach. Everything from the names, addresses and care records of your clients – anything that makes them identifiable – is considered sensitive information.

Processing this information is essential to the smooth running of your services. You need to be able to inform your care workers of the care they need to provide with each visit. You will also need to be able to share such information with other care providers and the NHS where necessary.

Sharing information extends to the CQC, too. With in-person inspections from the regulator becoming more infrequent, you may be asked to submit evidence electronically for assessment, the result of which may or may not be an in-person inspection. Being able to handle and share the data securely is paramount. CACI’s Certa care management software supports this with a dedicated CQC reporting feature which is designed to help you record, sort and share data easily and securely.

What do care providers need to consider with regards to cyber security?

Confidentiality: all client information, from names and addresses to care plans and medications, must be protected in line with GDPR. Deploying a CMS such as Certa, with an app for your carers to access client data through, is critical for minimising risk and GDPR compliance.

Data minimisation: consider what data you need for services and remove that which you don’t.

Encryption: how are care workers and clients accessing the information that you hold? Securing devices with strong password and two-factor authentication helps to protect your data.

Access controls: ensure only appropriate people can access information on your clients, restricting access across your organisations with role-based permissions.

Staff training: making all your staff aware of cyber security threats is imperative, from phishing email attacks to securing their devices correctly.

System security: staying on top of installing software updates and security patches is essential.

Cyber security and your CQC inspections

It’s vital to grasp the significant regulatory expectations care services operate under. The Care Quality Commission’s Single Assessment Framework, for instance, scrutinises how data is kept safe and managed securely, particularly under the ‘Well-led’ Quality Statement concerning governance, management and sustainability. This isn’t a vague aspiration; there are clear expectations that robust arrangements for the availability, integrity and confidentiality of data, records and data management systems are in place.

Failing to meet these standards, which are intrinsically linked to the Data Protection Act 2018 (incorporating GDPR), isn’t just a procedural hiccup. It can directly impact your CQC assessment and rating.

The CQC explicitly expects providers to comply with the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) or an equivalent, considering it a minimum for a ‘good’ provider. Ignoring these responsibilities isn’t an option if you want to avoid potentially severe consequences, from hefty fines issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office to the kind of reputational damage that erodes the trust of those you care for and their families. In today’s digital-first world, overlooking robust data security is a direct risk to the sustainability of your service and, most critically, to the safety and privacy of the vulnerable people you support.

Making cyber security simple for care providers

Whilst cyber security is a vital consideration for every care service, there is an array of complicated terminologies that can bewilder anyone – especially when your focus is firmly set on delivering outstanding person-centred care to your clients.

If you’re managing a care service, there are enough plates to keep spinning without the added headache of data security. It can be tempting to ignore it and focus on what your service is designed to deliver. The good news is that securing your data is a lot simpler than you might think.

Choosing the right care management software can drastically reduce the burden of cyber security for you and your care service. Modern software is designed with cyber security in mind.

If you haven’t already, digitising your care service is a vital first step. If you’re reliant on paper records, whilst they might not be compromised via malicious emails and lost smartphones, what happens if your office is burgled or there’s a fire? Recovering that data is impossible.

Then there are those services using a hybrid system of paper records, Word and Excel documents. Where multiple systems are being used, even if they are digital, there are risks to your data in not maintaining sensitive data is one, secure location. Where records are being emailed around, there is further risk of interception and incorrect recipients which will compromise your data security.

How Certa can make cyber security easy for you

At CACI, we understand that protecting sensitive data isn’t just a technical requirement. It’s fundamental to delivering quality care. That’s why, as a care management software provider with more than 20 years sector experience, cyber security is at the very heart of what we do.

CACI’s approach is ‘secure by design,’ meaning robust protection is built into our software from the outset. CACI has all the relevant security certificates to support its work, including ISO20000, ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus to support this.

To simplify that, it means that we’re experts in processing and securing data, something you can benefit from with our care management software solution, Certa.

At a time when everyone expects to interact with services digitally on demand, Certa is designed to achieve this. From storing client information to making it available to carers, clients and their loved ones, act with confidence that your data security is handled with Certa.

For more information and to book a demo, please visit: https://www.caci.co.uk/certa.

Caring for the carers: getting the most from your care workforce

Posted on: 17 June 2025

Recruiting care workers is becoming an increasingly difficult and costly operation. Job vacancies in the care industry are plentiful. This affords care workers a greater degree of choice and flexibility in choosing who they work for. So, why should they work for you and your home care service? From salary to working conditions, your service needs to be an attractive proposition to skilled care workers. You then need to have the processes and systems in place to keep them, otherwise the process repeats itself all over, costing you time and money, impacting on service delivery. In this blog we will examine how you can attract and retain care workers, helping to make your care service more effective and efficient.

Why is caring for the carers important to your care service?

It’s an obvious question to ask, but why is caring for your carers so important? If we look at your clients for a moment, continuity of care is vital. It builds rapport, trust and establishes a personal touch to your services. Your clients, at a vulnerable stage of their lives, will appreciate consistency and the presence of carers who they like and who understand their needs.

In a situation where you’re constantly shuffling your pack, bringing agency workers in to plug gaps and recruiting anyone to support service delivery, this vital sense of connection between your clients and your service is quickly lost.

One of the questions the CQC asks as part of its single assessment framework is, are your services caring? Where you have consistent, understanding carers who specialise in the area of care they are administering, it makes answering ‘yes’ to that question – and demonstrating it – much easier.

There’s also a financial element to consider for care services here. With lots of vacancies comes a lot of competition for care workers. If you can attract and retain staff, it minimises your need to recruit. This reduces staff costs and a reliance on more expensive agency staff in delivering your care services. If you look after your care workers, they will look after your clients, which in turn will look after your business. It’s a virtuous circle which reduces costs and administrative headaches.

How can you care for your carers?

We’ve established why it’s so important to care for your carers, but how can you achieve this? Your care service is likely a very busy environment, with a multitude of demands being juggled simultaneously. We’ll look at how you can effectively care for your carers, from their appointment through to, hopefully, a long and successful career with you.

Understand the skills of your carers

Each carer who works in your care services has a unique set of skills and experiences. How can you best deploy them across your clients? Each of your clients, too, has their own unique care needs, so effectively matching your carers to your clients is important.

Assign your carers to tasks they’re passionate about

A continuation of understanding the skills and experiences of your carers is scheduling them to tasks they’re passionate about. Not only will this help to keep your carers happy, it will have a knock-on effect in the care they deliver to your clients. It’s a logical thing to do, but something that can get lost in the maelstrom of administrative tasks faced by registered managers and administrators.

Help your carers develop their careers with you

Every care worker wants to advance their career. It helps them to stay motivated, increase their earning potential and realise their own potential as carers. Providing training opportunities is a great way to support your carers. It helps them to develop and also demonstrates that you’ve got their best interests in mind.

Communication

It sounds simple, but getting communication right between management and carers is crucial. Where you communicate clearly and well, it builds trust and rapport between you and your workforce. Having the means to effectively achieve this is an important consideration. Communication extends beyond on the day, last minute communications, to letting carers know their schedule in advance, equipping them with the relevant information they need for each visit and providing them with a means of recording visits and leaving feedback. This is another aspect to feature on the CQC’s single assessment framework.

Use the right care management software

Technology plays a fundamental role in the success of care services like yours. From onboarding new clients and care workers, to managing finances and care schedules, using care management software that supports your care services is essential. When choosing the best system for your care service it is important to involve your care workers in the decision making process. They will be the ones using it day in, day out, to deliver your services.

How Certa from CACI can help you care for your carers

Certa is a complete care management software solution designed for care providers. It supports every aspect of care delivery, including the scheduling, communication and understanding of your care workforce.

With bespoke dashboards for each office manager and administrator, you can more easily understand the skills and experiences of your carers, match them to tasks and clients that suit them and create continuity in your care services. You can also better identify areas for improvement, suggest training courses and receive feedback from your carers.

Certa can support you in caring for your carers. For more information, visit www.caci.co.uk/certa/.

Uncovering the power of Power BI: embedding new practices, empowering users & the handover process

Posted on: 24 April 2025

In our previous blog in this three-part series, we explored the ‘meal delivery model’ for the Power BI platform and the tools and teams required to bring this model and its methodology to life. In the final blog of this series, we’ll assess how new practices can be embedded and users empowered as the solution build is underway, as well as how to effectively carry out the handover process for a seamless go-live.

To read our full whitepaper that outlines additional methodology and best practices to unlock all that Power BI has to offer, click here.

Embedding new practices and empowering your users

To effectively embed new practices and empower users, evaluating training and resources will be fundamental for a successful Power BI migration. Conducting a training and resource assessment to evaluate users’ training needs and ensure they’re equipped with the necessary skills and confidence to use Power BI will be key to maximising its value. Planning a range of training for various users will be particularly impactful in this case, as will offering the right training to the right users. Communicating expectations, project and migration updates and overarching benefits will also be critical, especially when users are asked to contribute and to change established practices.

The handover process

Prior to going live, ensuring the necessary solution documentation is in place for both user and developer reference will be vital. Holding handover sessions for your BI team, your IT team and management, unifying support and resources and making sure the helpdesk is both responsive and reactive to any technical issues that arise will bolster this.

To help determine response times for any technical issues arising, users’ needs that would have arisen during the discovery phase of the project must be understood. Departmental or team champions for non-technical Power BI users can therefore bolster outcomes in these circumstances, and managed support can alleviate the burden of updates and adaptations in fast-changing NHS environments.

Time must be allocated for handover sessions for the BI team, IT team and management. This will serve as an additional opportunity to reiterate the benefits of the new PowerBI solution along with a practical introduction. Consistent monitoring and feedback should be sought out to refine helpdesk processes and continue deriving the full benefits that the solution can provide as the handover stage continues.

While PowerBI is an exceptionally flexible platform and will expand and adapt to accommodate new data and reporting requirements, having the necessary development resources available to make changes and upkeep the solution will be paramount.

How CACI can help

Migrating to PowerBI enables NHS stakeholders to achieve new strategic goals and transform their analytical capabilities. CACI understands the value that migrating to PowerBI can bring, which is why we have developed our own set of best practices and key principles for PowerBI migrations within the NHS. We strive to deliver a seamless migration built on our extensive experience in NHS data and technology, prioritising stakeholder engagement, providing reliable reporting, secure data sharing and self-sufficient BI capabilities for data-driven decision-making.

For more information or help with Power BI project planning, delivery or ongoing managed services, contact us today. To learn more about how you can tap into the power of Power BI, our whitepaper outlines the best practices and methodology that will boost your understanding and usage.

Read the rest of the series here:

Uncovering the power of Power BI: ‘meal delivery’ model & critical resources

Posted on: 17 April 2025

In our previous blog in this three-part series, we uncovered the value of thorough discovery and how to build a successful project delivery framework. Today, we’ll explore the ‘meal delivery model’ for the Power BI platform and the tools and teams required to bring this model and its methodology to life.

To read our full whitepaper that outlines additional methodology and best practices to unlock all that Power BI has to offer, click here.

What is the ‘meal delivery’ model for Power BI?

The ‘meal delivery’ model is an analogy for Power BI data insight in NHS systems, stemming from a challenge of making data insight (food) available to a range of different NHS users (eaters). In this context, there are a range of preferences and capabilities among Power BI users and audiences to consider. Therefore, data architecture must enable the experiences and nuances within them, catering to the specific needs of various users:

Analysts: These users will need direct portal access to usable data building blocks and analytics tools. With the ‘meal delivery’ model in mind, these users will need to select quality ingredients to make a meal for themselves.

Executive users: These users need dashboard access to pull reports from selected datasets. They will want the ingredients packaged and provided along with a basic recipe to make the meal in a way that best suits their individual needs.

Report consumers: Finally, these users will need Power BI reports sent direct to their inbox or accessible from Teams. They will want the meal delivered to them, ready to eat.

The people and tools that make it happen

Using all the insights that have been discovered, a plan can be created to maximise Power BI benefits and meet all identified requirements, goals and constraints. The development process and method will determine the pace of the Power BI implementation and the level of disruption to business as usual. It will also define a team’s size, roles, skills required and cost of resources. An Agile Scrum Project method can be utilised here to maximise developer and user collaboration and allow for continuous improvement across each sprint to incorporate change in a controlled way without derailing the project’s progress.

With Power BI project delivery being split into two workstreams— one being data and infrastructure, the other reporting— this method offers the flexibility to continuously embed best practices and ensure data and infrastructure workstreams do not diverge.

How CACI can help

In the upcoming and final blog in this series, we’ll investigate new practices to be embedded and how to empower your users to ensure a successful handover.

Read our previous blog in the series ‘Uncovering the power of Power BI: discovery & delivery framework’ here

Uncovering the power of Power BI: discovery & delivery framework

Posted on: 11 April 2025

NHS organisations that pursue data transformation will achieve substantial changes in their data-driven decision-making that ultimately improves efficiency, quality and patient experience. Power BI is an optimal contender for NHS organisations seeking a complete data transformation. However, achieving this and reaping its many benefits requires a carefully planned migration process, necessitating a partnership with a reliable data partner that possesses innate experience.

Having worked with many NHS organisations over the years to plan and implement data migrations, this three-part blog series is developed from the principles of our Power BI migration methodology and real-world experience of NHS data projects, sharing key questions you should consider asking and areas to address to ensure a successful migration to Power BI.

As such, the series begins with understanding the value of thorough discovery and how to build a successful project delivery framework. To read our full whitepaper that outlines additional methodology and best practices to unlock all that Power BI has to offer, click here.

The value of thorough discovery

Unearthing all the information that will influence and affect your migration is a vital—albeit lengthy— first step. Skimping on discovery can compromise the solution’s effectiveness.

Stakeholder mapping and collaboration

Stakeholder mapping and collaboration can make a significant impact to help define migration goals, as it will unearth possible issues and harvest key requirements to define migrations goals. Workshops with key stakeholders can aid this process, helping establish users’ needs and gauging their use of the Power BI platform.

Conduct a current state analysis

Reviewing current data architecture, data processing locations and transformation methods will help you intrinsically understand stored data and information flows. During this review, inefficiencies within the operating landscape where your new solution will be situated can be identified and a solid foundation for new data architecture objectives can be built and defined.

Building the project delivery framework

Building a successful project delivery framework will begin with defining features and functionalities required, including visualisations, connectivity, AI functions, data modelling and relationships between datasets. Ensuring you have a single version of the truth that is built on high quality data will also be critical. Reporting and analysis must also be transparent, enabling users and auditors to visualise how figures are produced. To facilitate this, solutions and configurations by audience type should be proposed to ensure users’ needs and Power BI access requirements will be met.

Furthermore, developing a full target data architecture and identifying software/licensing requirements based on an assessment of your current analytics development process and available resources will be an integral part of the development of this framework. Availability will also need to be considered, as will security across all apps, including different access levels and permissions.

How CACI can help

Stay tuned for the next blog in this series, where we’ll explain the ‘meal delivery model’ and the teams and tools that activate it.

How a Digital Twin of an Organisation (DTO) revolutionises strategic decision-making & scenario planning

Posted on: 21 October 2024

Organisations often face challenges in strategic decision-making and scenario planning due to fragmented data, siloed operations, and a lack of real-time visibility across departments. This uncertainty complicates planning for change or responding to external disruptions, ultimately blurring the line between strategy and execution. Consequently, decision-makers may face slow responses, missed opportunities, and decisions based on outdated or incomplete information. Without clear insights into the impact of changes, disruptions, inefficiencies, or unintended consequences when implementing new strategies may seem inevitable.

So, how can decision-makers navigate these challenges and how can Mood support them?

How to bolster strategic decision-making & scenario planning

Effective strategic decision-making, scenario planning and change management require the ability to simulate different options and assess their impact on the entire organisation. By visualising dependencies and potential outcomes, businesses can plan and implement changes with greater confidence and minimal risk.

Organisations need a unified, real-time view of their operations that integrates data from across the business. By connecting strategic goals with operational data, businesses can analyse potential scenarios, simulate outcomes and make informed decisions that align with their long-term objectives.

Why bolstering strategic decision-making & scenario planning is critical

Organisations that make a pointed effort to enhance their strategic decision-making will find themselves adapting quicker to everchanging industry conditions, navigating challenges or risks with ease and staying ahead of their competitors. With a comprehensive and real-time understanding of the organisation, faster and more accurate decisions can be made that will improve agility, alignment between strategy and execution and establish a stronger ability to adapt to market changes and internal demands.

Better scenario planning and change management will also lead to more resilient organisations that can adapt quickly to market shifts or internal changes. Businesses will gain the ability to implement change smoothly, with minimal disruption and maximum impact.

How Mood enhances strategic decision-making & scenario planning

Creating and maintaining a DTO would ordinarily require advanced technical expertise, multiple tools, business change and substantial resources. The complexity of integrating various systems and processes into a cohesive digital model can be daunting. Mood alleviates this.

Mood provides a non-technical, dynamic platform with everything a business needs to create and manage a Digital Twin of an Organisation. It collates data, processes and systems into a single, real-time view and supports detailed scenario planning and change impact analysis by integrating all relevant data, processes and systems into a living digital model.

By connecting strategic objectives to live operational data, Mood enables scenario planning and simulation, empowering decision-makers to visualise impacts and align initiatives with business goals. With Mood, your organisation can make strategic decisions with confidence and agility, as well as simulate the impact of strategic initiatives, visualise dependencies and assess risks before making decisions. The integration and digitisation of the change management process can also be enabled, ensuring that changes are implemented smoothly, with full visibility into their impact across the organisation.

Find out how Mood can transform your business by speaking to one of our experts today.

Unlocking the Power of Government Data: Moving from Siloed Information to Smart Public Services

Posted on: 10 September 2024

Government agencies are collecting unprecedented volumes of data, yet much of it remains untapped, trapped in silos that prevent effective decision-making and service improvements. This data holds immense potential to transform public services by enabling more accurate, timely insights into service delivery, effectiveness, and efficiency. However, the way data is currently collected, stored, and structured often renders it under-utilised or completely unused.

In this blog, co-authored by Ali Nicholl and Nick Turner from CACI, we explore the critical user requirements for a data-driven smarter state and propose a scalable, federated approach to data discovery, access, and sharing. By enabling real-time data access at the point of need, this approach not only empowers better public services but also provides a coherent AI-ready workflow that leverages existing legacy systems without disruptive centralisation, duplication, or increased complexity.

The Challenge: Making Data Work for Everyone

In today’s environment, where both government and industry are under pressure to do more with less, reduce complexity, and comply with stringent regulations, several pain points persist:

Breaking down data silos: Data is often trapped within departmental or organisational boundaries.
Improving data quality: Data accuracy and consistency are compromised without a coordinated approach.
Addressing data custodianship concerns: Worries around GDPR, security, and data misinterpretation hinder sharing.
Ensuring controlled access: Striking the right balance between open access and secure controls.
Managing costs: High expenses related to data transit, hosting, and maintenance.
Overcoming budget constraints: Investment in new systems while maximising returns on legacy assets.
Becoming AI-ready: Adopting new technologies without costly overhauls.

For any system to be truly data-driven, it needs a minimum standard for quality, availability, consistency, and interoperability—without sacrificing security and appropriate access control. It’s the organisations closest to the data sources that have the best insights into managing quality and availability. However, leaving consistency and interoperability solely in the hands of data owners can lead to fragmentation, while expecting any single organisation to manage all data ownership is unrealistic.

The Evolving Solution Space: Technology, Policy, and Attitude Shifts

Recent advances in technology and shifts in policy have begun to address these challenges. Nearly two decades ago, the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations (2005) and the Transparency Agenda (2010) laid the foundation for more open attitudes towards data sharing in the UK. The evolution of cloud technology and API-driven architectures has further improved data accessibility by reducing latency and enhancing interoperability.

For example, the UK Transport Sector has effectively used open data APIs to share real-time transport information with developers and service providers, resulting in over 600 apps that benefit millions of Londoners every day. However, while these methodologies improve access, they do not fully solve the “data silo problem”—where data remains fragmented and lacks context, limiting its utility for broader insights.

A Federated Approach: Keeping Data in Place While Maximising Its Value

Our combined experience at CACI has only reinforced how unsustainable current approaches are. A smarter state needs a smarter approach. A federated approach. A federated approach allows data to stay in situ within its existing silos, accessible through a controlled, consistent, and extensible framework. This approach eliminates the need for costly mass data migrations while still unlocking insights at the point of need. Creating a more equitable democratisation of decision-making by ensuring that the right data is available at the right time.

This methodology aligns with how Health Services in the UK have approached data integration in recent initiatives. Within Social Care Networks, for example, connecting existing systems rather than centralising all data has ensured the Healthcare sector maintains flexibility to access relevant information while adhering to security and privacy requirements.

Understanding Stakeholder Needs: Tailoring Solutions for Maximum Impact

Different stakeholders have different goals and challenges when it comes to leveraging data. Here’s how a federated approach such as ours addresses their specific pain points:

CIOs need timely, reliable data for informed decision-making. Our solution ensures up-to-date insights without the need for complex data migration, helping CIOs set policies and make strategic decisions with confidence.
Heads of Data and CDOs seek to maximise ROI from data assets. We provide enhanced data discoverability and governance, ensuring that those who need access can find and use data efficiently.
Service Owners focus on delivering policy or strategic outcomes. Our approach reduces the under-utilisation of data, enabling service improvements without significant operational disruption.
Data Analysts require consistent and high-quality data for accurate analysis. By maintaining data integrity and enabling seamless integration across sources, we empower analysts to deliver actionable insights.
End Users demand real-time access to relevant data without navigating multiple platforms. Our solution brings data closer to its source, maximising relevance and minimising inconsistency.

Building a Data-Driven Smarter State: The Path Forward

Creating a data-driven smarter state requires lowering the barriers for departments, organisations, and individuals to surface their data and enrich it with context, turning it into actionable insights. A federated approach represents a scalable, flexible, and low-risk path towards unlocking the full potential of government data. The journey from siloed information to integrated insight is not just about technology; it’s about creating an ecosystem where data flows seamlessly, fostering collaboration, innovation, and smarter decision-making across the public sector.

To build this future, we must prioritise accessible, context-rich data and scalable collaboration across stakeholders. The smarter state of tomorrow is within reach if we embrace these principles today.

This blog was submitted to TechUK as part of their “Building the Smarter State Week” and can be found on their website here.

Automating competency management: effective, efficient, accurate

Posted on: 23 May 2024

Having the ability to automate your competency management process enhances your workforce scheduling, improving output and safety

When assigning staff to tasks and schedules, understanding their core competencies is essential. As a stark and wholly unfair example, in a transport organisation you wouldn’t assign an accountant to drive a train. Nor would you ask a train driver to look over your accounts. Understanding an individual’s skills, training and experience is essential. It’s essential to the smooth running of your services and the safety of your workers and end users. Competency management is central to this.

Running schedules in a live and constantly evolving environment such as transport is difficult. There’s the basic schedule to adhere to. Then there are events, often beyond your control, which can curtail even the best laid plans. Being able to respond to these unforeseen circumstances swiftly and accurately is the difference between minimising service disruption and lengthy delays or cancelations.

This goes beyond transport, too. In construction, for example, if there is an accident on site or work isn’t carried out to the required standard, it can cause delays and impact the cost of the project.

The most reliable way of minimising such incidents is by having the right people in the right place at the right time. Your competency management framework plays a vital role in this. It achieves this not only by ensuring staff are trained, skilled and experienced, but also by being made transparent and available across your organisation. The link between training, assessment and scheduling needs to be seamless. Information must be available in real-time and events responded to accordingly.

What does real-time competency management look like?

Automation is key here. Let’s take the example of a train driver being assessed. Their ongoing competence is paramount to the smooth and safe running of services. Regular assessments need to be scheduled, conducted and reported on.

Driver A is due for their assessment. The assessor needs to be notified of the need to assess them and they will then go about conducting the assessment. Once the assessment is complete, they will then need to record the outcome of it. If Driver A has passed the assessment, this information needs to be made available to the driver, their management team and the scheduling team. In this scenario, it’s a case of confirming business as usual.

But what if Driver A fails to pass their assessment? In this scenario, further training may be required as remedial action to rectify their error. If the assessor notes Driver A as having failed, there needs to be a swift chain reaction to this. Driver A must be notified, their managers too, plus the scheduling team. Driver A may need to be removed from duty until such a time that they have undertaken the requisite training. This means, therefore, that the training team must be notified, too, with a view to booking Driver A in for training asap.

The scheduling team will then need to arrange to have another driver cover any shifts that they are booked in for. This triggers its own chain of communication, impacting another driver and their ongoing shifts. Regulations around working hours must be factored in and adhered to.

Automating this process makes it more efficient. Information, rather than being siloed by department, can be shared electronically at the point of input. This means that the driver, their managers, the scheduling team and the training department can all act quickly.

How do organisations automate their competency management?

This is a process that Transport for London (TfL) operates through CACI’s Cygnum software. Assessors are assigned to a list of tube drivers who need assessing, they can see their routes and timings and meet drivers at a station that best suits them. The results are recorded instantly and follow-up activities are automatically triggered.

Assessors access a priority list of drivers on the go through Cygnum. They can see where drivers are due or coming up for assessment. This means they can prioritise accordingly. Using the Cygnum Mobile app, assessors can record results on the go, in real time.

Obviously mobile reception can be an issue on sections of the London Underground. Where this is the case, results are stored offline on the app to be uploaded as soon as possible once reception is available again.

With results recorded in or near to real time, TfL’s training and scheduling teams have accurate and up to date information available to them. For the training team, their list of drivers is demand driven, so those drivers who need to receive training most are put to the front of the queue. This minimises frontline absences.

Ongoing training can be enhanced via automation too. Regular checks, from safety briefings to eyesight checks need to be conducted and recorded. Sending reminders and auto-booking people onto courses makes for a smoother process.

Network Rail operates its training management programme through Cygnum. This enables Network Rail to automate vast swathes of its training operation. Mandatory courses are booked in advance, attendance is accurately monitored and results are recorded and shared across the organisation.

The automation of this enables Network Rail to not only keep abreast of its training courses and who needs to attend, but also to inform schedulers of their outcomes. This is essential in keeping the right people in the right place at the right time.

Conclusion

Whilst automation of competency management can be incredibly useful across any transport organisation, it is only as reliable as the data entered into your system. Bringing data together from across your organisation is essential. Where data become siloed, its usefulness is stunted. Creating a single view requires the input of every department.

Automation can make the crucial task of keeping the right people in the right place at the right time more straightforward. It can alert you and your staff of required upcoming training. Assessments can be scheduled well in advance with results logged instantly. Training can be booked when it’s needed, including in a demand-led fashion. Again, making the outcomes of sessions available to the wider business instantly facilitates accurate and timely decision making.

Ultimately, automation of competency management underpins accurate scheduling. Assigning tasks to staff safe in the knowledge that they are the right people to perform such tasks is essential in transport. In any industry with moving parts, being able to make changes in a live environment is also essential. When schedulers and administrators have to manually trawl through records to evidence the changes they wish to make, it wastes valuable time. Being able to instantly understand someone’s suitability for a task, against their core competencies, skills, experience and working patterns, saves time and keeps services moving.

Automation is undoubtedly challenging to achieve, but the results are well worth it.