22 April 2008

CSS CONFERENCE POINTS WAY FORWARD ON IT

Registration is now open for the always popular biannual CSS information management conference, being held this year at the Palace Hotel at Buxton in Derbyshire on 15 and 16 May. A booking form can be found on the events section of the CSS website at www.css.net

The conference, “Looking forward to the next decade – integrating IT into future services” will focus on information management needs generated by the growing impact of major national initiatives like road pricing, the Traffic Management Act and mobile working. All will be debated within the context of broader environmental issues and the long-term impact of London 2012 throughout the UK

Participants will be able to bring themselves up to date and join practical sessions covering the Government themes of shared services, transformational Government and innovation. The keynote speaker will be Stephen Hughes, Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council.

The conference will also explore how local government can harness the knowledge, skill sets, and outputs for highway and transportation programmes through the next decade.

Anthony O’Sullivan, chairman of the CSS Transport Committee’s Information Management Working Group, says: “Information management is playing an increasingly important role in highways management. Its contribution to resolving problems within the transport arena is vastly enhanced compared to the first CSS biennial conference over 20 years ago.

“The conference will showcase the IT outputs and activities of the highway and transportation sector, featuring a range of educational sessions, focused workshops and real-life case studies – plus an exhibition of the leading service providers to the local authority sector. The whole programme will help participants deliver the required services, process transformations and efficiencies in their own authorities.”

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Media contact  

Susan Tolman, Daybreak Communications office 0845 644 3845; mobile 07786 543430; susan.tolman@daybreakcomm.co.uk 

Notes to editors

• CSS represents local authority chief officers who manage some of the most pressing issues facing the UK today. Membership is drawn from all four corners of the United Kingdom with members responsible for three-quarters of the road network, two thirds of the land area and just under half of the population of England and Wales. Operating at the strategic tier of local government, they are closely involved in crucial transport, waste management, environment, planning, energy and economic development issues.
• Anthony O’Sullivan is chairman of the CSS Transport Committee’s Information Management Working Group.

Main sponsors for the 2008 Information Management Conference are Geographical Information Systems company Pitney Bowes MapInfo, office solutions company RICOH, and highways and transportation consultancy EXOR.