Base One blog

December 17 2014 2:45 PM

An article in Monday’s ComputerWeekly.com talked about how three-quarters of UK citizens believe that allowing police officers access to more digital technology will improve frontline policing. It also stated that the majority of the public would welcome the use of ‘predictive technology’.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has been trialling analytics software for some time now, which is said to use historical data, and other available intelligence, to help predict which criminals or gangs are likely to re-offend. The software applies predictive analytics to calculate the probability of a known criminal to commit another crime. This can also be applied to a specific geographical area, forecasting where criminal activity is more likely to happen, which allows forces to deploy officer as and where needed most.

This is part of the MPS’ ‘Total Technology IT Strategy’ four-year plan, which aims to transform their service. This is a move that responds to citizens’ demands and belief that police forces are still falling short of the public’s expectation when it comes to technology and its use. But this kind of response is not found just among police forces but throughout the whole of the UK public sector.

Technology companies, therefore, have a tangible opportunity to engage with public sector leaders and show how they can help them transform services through digital technology. Is your enterprise making the most of this opportunity? And if not, what are the factors stopping you?