Kent Connects is a strategic partnership between Kent County Council, Medway Council, all the Kent Councils and the Kent Fire and Rescue Service. Their aim is to remove the barriers that hinder the joining up, sharing and transformation of public services throughout Kent and Medway, and to provide solutions for residents, businesses and organisations in Kent and Medway to enjoy seamless access to information and public services. The partnership was formed in 2002 attracting funding in excess of £5million from the Government’s Invest to Save and Local Government On-Line programmes. The Kent and Medway Chief Executives Group are their steering group and provide strategic overview to their activities.

Kent Connects is a trusted community working together and is the mechanism for aiding and facilitating joined-up service delivery and shared working across Kent and Medway. Working in partnership, Kent Connects has already delivered a number of significant projects, for example:

• a fully connected ICT network, providing secure connectivity and interoperability between all partners
• internet and email services for a number of partners, achieving reduced costs for these partners since economies of scale were realised by increasing the size of the user base
• joint procurement of a shared disaster recovery service, which again, offers significant reduction in costs as well as improved disaster recovery provision to partners
• Operation Cubit, the multi-agency project for the removal of abandoned vehicles
• an audit of major IT system in use across Kent and Medway, commissioned by Leaders and recently presented to the Kent and Medway Chief Executives, to explore the potential for shared service delivery, shared resources, shared knowledge and experience and best use of software
• Kent Benefits Partnership and East Kent Audit Group, who use the Kent Connects network to provide connectivity to/from systems at partner sites

Kent Connects is an extremely effective and productive partnership in Kent, facilitating partner projects by providing advice and sharing best practice and resources. By achieving economies of scale on joint procurements, Kent Connects is exploiting efficiency gains for partners, eliminating duplication of effort and services, and encouraging improvements in quality and efficiency. Kent Connects is a proven partnership which is facilitating technological solutions to enable ICT systems in Kent and Medway to be joined-up, shared and transformed.

For further information please contact Debbie Wisdom, Kent Connects Strategic Director on 01622 221929 or write to Kent Connects Partnership Office, Room G05, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1XQ.

View the Kent Connects website.