ISIS aims to deliver:

• Joined up efficient processes and IT that enables officers to focus on policing
• Modern technology supporting officers in protecting the public
• Access for the public to police information as they need, in ways they want to access it - online or via their phone
• Re-usable investment and improved efficiency.

ISIS is founded on five principles:

• To act as one service at all times
• To focus on the officer and citizen experience
• Re-use wherever possible
• Converge forces' information systems to minimum variation
• Create a single re-useable national infrastructure.

Progress to Date

There are a number of initiatives taking place which look to share best practice, knowledge, skills and information on procurement of IT.  In addition, ISIS is currently negotiating with the 'Top 10' suppliers in police IT to reduce costs and use other opportunities to make potential savings within the police service e.g. the new national license agreements between the UK government and Microsoft.

A series of regional workshops took place in June 2009 with frontline officers and staff to capture their requirements as end users of new technology and systems. The information gained from these workshops will help inform and drive the ISIS programme ensuring it remains relevant and focussed.

ISIS is encouraging regions and forces to realise their priorities which includes supporting regional procurements of key information systems and reviews of local IT capabilities.

Next Steps

ISIS will continue to influence and align activities across the NPIA and police IT nationally, rationalising investment and increasing the focus for delivery to frontline officers.  Under the tripartite governance, the new ISIS Business Design Authority (BDA) will be the focus for these investment decisions.

The ISIS Plan outlines work to be delivered over 2009 and 2010.  Some of the key elements include:

• Driving up efficiency in police IT nationally and making best use of current resources
• A national crime mapping solution by the end of 2009 providing the public with their first national online view of the impact the police are making on reducing crime
• Additional national procurement agreements and improved supplier management to further reduce costs nationally
• The first Centre of Excellence for police procurement. This will support forces to realise savings locally and maximise their contribution to national efficiency. It will also provide support to the proposed Her Majesty's Inspectorate Constabulary (HMIC) and the Association of Police Officers (ACPO) procurement centres.
• New capabilities for police officers and staff.

How ISIS will be delivered

ISIS has been mobilised by three work streams:

Procurement
ISIS will drive improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. One of the key mechanisms to achieving these benefits will be improved procurement at both a national and local level. Through ISIS, police technology procurement will move away from the existing approach to a co-ordinated way of procurement - this means that new capabilities will be delivered to frontline policing faster and for less.

Officer and Citizen
The focus of the ISIS programme is to equip the 2015 police officer and police staff with new and enhanced information capabilities, to increase opportunities for the 2015 citizen to access police services and provide opportunities for them to participate in the Criminal Justice process. To ensure this happens, this work stream will look at what happens now in terms of the current officer and citizen experience and establish how it will be improved by providing better access and availability to information.  
 
Architecture and Convergence
This area focuses on the bringing together of information systems that will increasingly enable the police service to work together at all levels. This will result in police information being shared more easily and used both across policing and the wider criminal justice system.

Background

Following the publication of the government Green Paper: From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing our communities and Sir Ronnie Flanagan's review of police IT, the NPIA under its tripartite governance was asked to establish two major programmes of work.

The first is to create a common operating environment for police officers and staff to deliver Sir Ronnie Flanagan's recommendations on process improvements. The other is to seek innovative ways of using information more effectively to engage the public. 

The Green Paper also identified that the NPIA would identify improvements in the procurement of police IT systems to drive efficiencies.

For more information, contact the ISIS Programme Team