e@SY Connects is a partnership across Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. It brings together Councils, health services, emergency services, voluntary groups, Jobcentre Plus, and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. It is the shared service resource for South Yorkshire and the ‘doing arm’ of the CIO Forum.
The aim of e@SY Connects is to provide people and businesses with a simple, innovative access to information and services, particularly for those in greatest need. This is done in ways everyone can use and understand: TV, mobile phone, kiosks, gaming platforms and the internet. e@SY's partners share the workload and cost to bring grounded, coordinated, comprehensive, sustainable services. e@SY's work helps to deliver the services citizens want and need whilst also improving the efficiency of these services. Often these are entirely new or radically improved services using new technologies, yet where possible and appropriate e@SY uses what is already there.
Some of the projects and technologies e@SY are working with include Digital Region, high definition (HD) consultation enablement, broadband access to sheltered housing, digital interactive TV, authorisation and authentication technologies, micropayments, secure messaging, data sharing protocols, e-participation platforms, and basic training in digital technologies. The aim is to make the life of local people easier and local businesses more successful. Encouraging people and businesses to stay or relocate to South Yorkshire. To e@SY Connects, partnership working is paramount. This has been recognised for example by e@SY being holding a best practice award from the EU and a host of other awards, and is doing so truly allows South Yorkshire to claim it is the digital region.
To e@SY, partnership working to deliver advice, guidance and service deployment is everything.
For e@SY’s proven partnership working e@SY Connects is the holder of a best practice label from the European Union.