Introduction

Organisations considering new channels and new investment must look at the business case from all angles; financial, social and strategic. Looking Local's business case covers these areas as well as giving a wider view of the flourishing non-PC digital landscape and the varying needs across the digital demographic; the background on TV viewing and interaction habits, how more people are relying on mobile as a communication channel, what services people are drawn to on TV and how TV and mobile can complete your digital self-service offering.

Looking Local's business case is a significant document which you can request via email here. It details our experience, the technology, case studies, puts forward the case from numerous perspectives as well as the reasoning that has encouraged over 120 organisations to date to offer their services on digital interactive TV, mobile phones as well as other channels. There is also an executive summary which will meet the needs of organisations in the early stages of considering additional channels.

For those with a little less time we have summarised the main points below.

Background

• By 2012, the traditional analogue TV broadcasts will have been completely replaced by digital signals
• The UK is the world leader in terms of access to and take up of digital TV
• Currently over 22 million homes have access to digital TV with approx 13 million homes having access to digital interactive TV
• Current figures show that over 92% of the UK population owns a mobile phone - higher than those homes with a fixed line - and mobile ownership in the 18-24 yr old age group is 95%
• Over 23 million handsets in the UK are able to access the web, making mobile a significant channel for public sector delivery
• Over 20 million smartphones are now in use in the UK, predictions suggest that by June 2012 50% of mobiles in the UK will be smartphones

Financial Benefits

• Low entry and running costs
• Based on national call centre costs/figures, an organisation needs only to convert around 60 call centre calls a week to break even
• The average cash saving per organisation signed up to Looking Local currently stands at just under £36,000 against an upfront investment of just £15,000
• Ability to have a managed service by Looking Local using best practice
• Looking Local offers both DiTV and mobile technology in one package, specifically designed for public sector service delivery
• No need to buy in technical expertise, hardware or additional training
• Android & iPhone apps available for all partner services, including national 'Report It' apps and the ability to surface your services as branded apps

Access Benefits

• Additional 24/7 channels specifically designed for the various platforms
• Looking Local allows an organisation to offer an audience specific services on multiple platforms in one subscription: DiTV (Sky, Virgin, broadband connected Freeview), mobile phones with Internet capabilities, smartphones, Wii and kiosks
• Integration between existing/back-end systems and partners using standard XML
• Mobile web interface is part of the Looking Local solution allowing you to deliver mobile friendly services to customers 'on the go'

Strategic Benefits

• Provides public sector organisations with future-proof means of providing digital communication to local people at low cost - all branded and capable of spanning new media as technology continues to change and grow
• 100% electronic services: By delivering mobile and TV services your organisation can move closer to delivering some services 100% electronically
• Partnerships with leading UK national e-Government services e.g.: Jobcentre Plus, DirectGov and Transport Direct
• Helps to meet a variety of central and local government policies; digital inclusion, electronic government, information and education, empowerment, employment, economic growth, regeneration as well as helping towards the green agenda
• Helps bridge the digital divide, getting to those people with high usage of government services, who do not have Internet access or PC skills
• Offers a useful starting position in the rapidly growing DiTV landscape; Looking Local is involved with a range of new initiatives from the future of IPTV, linking with broadcast content, telecare/ telehealth, video-on-demand and more

Looking Local recently integrated with Birmingham's Online Schools Admission service in a real effort to make all admissions to primary and secondary schools electronic and reduce costs of bureaucracy. We can integrate with any back-end database and make services available on TV and mobile.

Citizen Benefits

• Additional 24/7 channels, widening choice
• Available for free on DiTV
• 10 million people in the UK do not use the Internet or have access, Looking Local helps provide electronic services to this large swathe of the population - find out more about our audience
• Allows access to government services and information whilst on the go via mobile service
• Smartphone apps available for both Android and iPhones, are free to download, easy to use and enable photo attachments and mapping of issues
• Uses devices which are known and trusted and need little introduction or education
• Usability and accessibility tested
• The Big Society: Use Looking Local to widen the local debate and activate your community. Drive penetration across poor responding, expensive to reach demographics and save on paper/phone-based research, whether it be by your own polls and consultations or using our partner Patient Opinion, ( LINK TO http://lookinglocal.gov.uk/site/news/2010-10-07-patientopinion.html) pulling in feeds from community boards or offering the Timebanking UK service via TV to galvanise community cohesion at a local level (for more information on how Looking Local can help in achieving a Big Society click here - link to new Big Soc case study - see below)
• Social media integration: Pull in the content of your Twitter feeds to be part of your Looking Local service or use images from Flickr to illustrate consultations, polls or local news