Streamlining Community Grants Processing with Low-Code: A Case Study on Newcastle City Council
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Event-Driven Application
- Sensors - Air Pollution Sensors
Applicable Industries
- Automotive
- Cities & Municipalities
Applicable Functions
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Fraud Detection
- Leasing Finance Automation
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
The customer in this case study is Newcastle City Council (NCC), the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. NCC is responsible for providing a range of public services to its citizens, including the administration of community grants. The council was seeking a solution to streamline its grant application process, reduce manual work, improve accuracy, and enhance the customer experience. The council also needed to comply with a legal directive to reduce traffic-related pollution levels, which involved providing a simple way for vehicle owners to check eligibility and apply for grants.
The Challenge
Newcastle City Council (NCC), the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, faced a significant challenge in making community grants more accessible to its citizens. The council needed a digital-first case management solution that could integrate multiple technologies, automate processes, and deliver accurate reporting for compliance. The ultimate goal was to provide a streamlined and transparent end-to-end application process for a range of grants, including the Clear Air Zone (CAZ) grant. The council team was burdened with handling numerous unstructured emails and telephone calls, leading to manual re-keying of customer data and reliance on spreadsheets for payment processing. With limited validation capability, the risk of claim fraud, error, and audit failure was high. Additionally, NCC was legally required to reduce traffic-related pollution levels, necessitating a simple way for owners of specific vehicles to check eligibility and apply for grants.
The Solution
NCC adopted the low-code platform, Liberty Create, to manage multiple application types and processes. This platform provided a single view solution to automate workflows and handle communication and compliance efficiently. The team could easily update the system to meet changing grant application needs, including handling complex applications such as multiple vehicle grants for a fleet. Using a single form, applicants could access the information they needed and apply easily, with in-built form validation checks to support back-office processing. Officers could easily liaise with applicants and trigger bulk emails when needed. Increased automation improved the customer experience and enhanced accuracy, reducing the need for manual workarounds. The platform also facilitated the smooth processing of Clean Air Zone (CAZ) Grants, with data protection compliance assured and complex multi-vehicle grant applications handled with ease.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
Case Study missing?
Start adding your own!
Register with your work email and create a new case study profile for your business.
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Turning A Stadium Into A Smart Building
Honeywell created what it called the “intelligent system” for the National Stadium in Beijing, China, turning the venue for the opening and closing events at the 2008 Summer Olympics into a “smart building.” Designed by highly controversial artist Ai Weiwei, the “Bird’s Nest” remains one of the most impressive feats of stadium architecture in the world. The 250,000 square meter structure housed more than 100,000 athletes and spectators at a time. To accommodate such capacity, China turned to Honeywell’s EBI Integrated Building Management System to create an integrated “intelligent system” for improved building security, safety and energy efficiency.
.png)
Case Study
Smart Street Light Network (Copenhagen)
Key stakeholders are taking a comprehensive approach to rethinking smart city innovation. City leaders have collaborated through partnerships involving government, research institutions and solution providers. The Copenhagen Solutions Lab is one of the leading organizations at the forefront of this movement. By bringing together manufacturers with municipal buyers, the Copenhagen Solutions Lab has catalyzed the development and deployment of next-generation smart city innovations. Copenhagen is leveraging this unique approach to accelerate the implementation of smart city solutions. One of the primary focus areas is LED street lighting.
Case Study
Integral Plant Maintenance
Mercedes-Benz and his partner GAZ chose Siemens to be its maintenance partner at a new engine plant in Yaroslavl, Russia. The new plant offers a capacity to manufacture diesel engines for the Russian market, for locally produced Sprinter Classic. In addition to engines for the local market, the Yaroslavl plant will also produce spare parts. Mercedes-Benz Russia and his partner needed a service partner in order to ensure the operation of these lines in a maintenance partnership arrangement. The challenges included coordinating the entire maintenance management operation, in particular inspections, corrective and predictive maintenance activities, and the optimizing spare parts management. Siemens developed a customized maintenance solution that includes all electronic and mechanical maintenance activities (Integral Plant Maintenance).
Case Study
Buoy Status Monitoring with LoRa
The Netherlands are well-known for their inland waterways, canals, sluices and of course port activities. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure indicates that there are thousands of buoys and fixed items in and near water environments that would profit from IoT monitoring. One of the problems with buoys for example, is that they get hit by ships and the anchor cable breaks. Without connectivity, it takes quite some time to find out that something has happened with that buoy. Not to mention the costs of renting a boat to go to the buoy to fix it. Another important issue, is that there is no real-time monitoring of the buoys at this moment. Only by physically visiting the object on the water, one gains insight in its status.
