sponsor profiles - Housing Technology

20 | housing technology 2012 conference & executive forum
business & technology presentations
suite 4b | 1400
regenerateit
Peabody Housing wi-fi pilots – Showcasing
key findings
Robin Knowles, Co-Founder, RegenerateIT
suite 4b | 1530
richmond housing partnership
New channels for customer services
Jonathan Creaser, Head of ICT,
Richmond Housing Partnership
suite 5 | 1530
shepherds bush housing group
To DLO or not to DLO? – That is the question
Greg Birch, Director of Property Management,
Shepherds Bush Housing Group
suite 4b | 1145
south liverpool homes
Resident involvement – Partnership working
Debbie O’Hare, Service Development Manager,
South Liverpool Homes
RegenerateIT partnered with Peabody
in 2009 to roll out its free to end-user
wireless internet package across two pilot
estates in London.
While enabling tenants to get online,
Peabody has also been able to consider
its own presence, how it interacts with
tenants, improve services and drive
efficiencies in costs and delivery. This
presentation will disseminate key
findings, lessons learnt and highlight best
practice.
How to deliver joined-up operations
across the call centre, including web,
email, social media, phone and SMS, and
provide customers with 24/7/365 access
to self-service systems.
The pros and cons of creating a DLO and
bringing repairs and maintenance back
in-house.
In 2007 Shepherds Bush Housing
Association reached a cross roads in the
delivery of its maintenance services;
having used two large contractors since
2005, by 2007 one of the contractors had
been sacked for financial irregularities,
leaving all of the maintenance eggs in
one basket.
SBHA’s board wanted the security of
multiple contractors, while the housing
officers wanted the simplicity and control
afforded by one generic contractor. This
presentation charts SBHA’s journey from
fledgling partnering contracts through to
the formation of a joint venture company
based on the principles of a DLO.
South Liverpool Homes has worked
in partnership with Aspire Housing,
Coast & Country Housing and Orchard
Information Systems to develop new IT
solutions for the management of resident
involvement and survey campaigns.
The project has broken new ground
in the way that RI activity is tracked
and analysed, and the group is forging
links with TPAS with the aim of feeding
back new ideas to the wider housing
community. This session will cover the
reasons why SLH engaged in the project,
its experience of the IT partnership and
the benefits that the project can offer.
Robin Knowles is a curator and
commentator on e-inclusion and publiclyaccessible
technology in libraries and
social housing. He co-founded the free to
end user wi-fi provider RegenerateIT in
2004, created the UK’s largest National
Digital conference in 2005 and created
the Digital Leaders Programme in 2009
through which Whitehall gets to grips
with the role digital can play as an
enabler of transparent, efficient and
citizen-centric public services.
In October 2011 Knowles was appointed
as the EU representative for the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation’s global
libraries programme.
As RHP’s head of ICT since 2003, Jonathan
Creaser has overseen the development
of some ground-breaking ICT solutions
in the housing sector, including an online
repairs booking system that allows
customers to book their own two-hour
appointment slot.
He previously worked in the travel sector
as a global IT director and presents a
weekly local radio programme.
Greg Birch has worked for contractors,
local authorities and housing associations
during his 25 year career in maintenance
and asset management. He is a member
of Shepherd Bush Housing Association’s
senior management team and is
responsible for the delivery of the
responsive and planned maintenance
programmes of works to the
organisation’s 5,000 properties.
Birch was instrumental in the formation
of Domus Maintenance Services, a joint
venture company between SBHA and
its maintenance contractor, Collective
Maintenance Solutions which delivers
all of SBHA’s responsive maintenance
services. Since its launch two years ago,
Domus has increased in size and turnover
by 50 per cent, while consistently
achieving top-quartile KPIs.
In housing for five years, Debbie O’Hare
has extensive experience of working with
young people and communities and has
financial inclusion within her remit.
Her team delivered an increase of 23 per
cent in satisfaction, with 260 tenants
actively involved, and reduced youth
nuisance reports by 37 per cent working
with members of a junior board.
RegenerateIT is a socially-motivated
technology e-inclusion specialist at the
leading edge of technological advances.
Its purpose is to use the best that wi-fi
and cloud computing have to offer to
provide public services in an affordable,
innovative and managed environment
that is focused on delivering benefit
to communities involved in training,
learning, capacity building and social
enterprise. Its clients range from the
Peabody Trust to the British Library.
Richmond Housing Partnership is a
dynamic, innovative and customerfocused
organisation made up of two
RSLs which own and manage over 10,000
properties in South-West London.
Shepherds Bush Housing Association
was formed in 1968 by members of the
Church of St Stephen and St Thomas
in Shepherds Bush who were deeply
concerned about the lack of good quality
affordable housing locally. SBHA is the
parent organisation of Shepherds Bush
Housing Group.
We own and manage nearly 5,000
homes across a variety of tenures as we
believe that quality affordable homes
are the foundation of society. We
regenerate neighbourhoods, help
residents to live independently, run a
well-being service, provide a furniture
re-use service and help people onto the
property ladder through low-cost home
ownership.
South Liverpool Homes has 3,600
properties in the Speke & Garston areas
of Liverpool. It is helping to transform
South Liverpool through investment,
partnerships and by placing the
community at the heart of everything
we do.
The SLH Group is about more than
just bricks and mortar; we are creating
places people want to live by tackling
ASB, building skills, opportunities and
innovative ways of involving people in
their local community. Our mission is to
make South Liverpool the place to be.