Public Sector Roundup: Pens and CCTV go digital

Fishing regulators go with Leeds digital pen

North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee

Officers write with the pen on paper in the usual way, but a camera embedded in the device digitises the notes and sends them directly to a computer, saving data inputting time.

Ian Jones, Senior Consultant at Innovation Leeds said: "The user can be anywhere from the quayside to actually out on the boat and instantly send the data captured on a form back to the central database using a combination of Bluetooth technology and a standard mobile phone."

Giles Bartlett, Environmental Officer with North Eastern Sea Fisheries said: "North Eastern Sea Fisheries were looking at looking at modernising our approach to data capture and had been considering the use of PDAs when we started working with Innovation Leeds. For ease of use and serviceability in the unusual environmental conditions in which fishery officers worked the pen solution seemed ideal."

Peterborough taxis get digital CCTV

Peterborough City Council

iKabs

Ken Gray, the city council's principal taxi enforcement officer, said: "This is an exciting project that we are carrying out with all 191 Hackney carriages in Peterborough. The whole point is for the protection of the public and for the driver."

Hackney intends to rollout the iKabs system nationally. Supported by advertising on a flat-screen monitor inside the car, iKabs does not cost the driver or the local authority anything.

Wigan saves 90,000 with Civica policing software

Civica's

Wigan Council