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Rapid identification of vulnerable households – Local Digital

As part of the Local Digital programme, Westmorland & Furness Council led a project to scale the VIPER digital tool for quickly identifying vulnerable households during crises. Developed by Cumbria’s Local Resilience Forum, it replaces manual, inefficient paper processes. The tool needed to be accessible across various agencies for data processing and welfare checks, as multiple agencies may be involved in an incident.

Challenges

The project sought to address inefficient, manual processes for identifying vulnerable households during crises as well as ensuring data protection compliance while sharing sensitive information.

Approach

The project was delivered in several stages, starting from 2023 where the councils received funding from the Local Digital programme to support the delivery of the following objectives:

  • Digitise systems by developing VIPER.
  • Ensure multi-agency access for data input/output.
  • Use property profiles to organise data and address GDPR concerns.
  • Incorporate mapping for situational awareness at various scales.

Outcomes and benefits

The project delivered a prototype VIPER solution. In March 2024, the latest update on the project is that they are seeking a technical partnership for the prototype. While onward funding outside of the Local Digital programme is being discussed to progress the prototype, the following benefits were achieved from the project:

  • Improved emergency response: Faster identification of vulnerable households during crises.
  • Enhanced collaboration: Enabling multiple agencies to work together efficiently during incidents.
  • Reduced risk: Minimising the potential for casualties or loss of life among vulnerable populations during major incidents.
  • Data protection: Limited GDPR concerns due to the property-based approach.
  • Situational awareness: Quick and concise overview of affected areas through mapping capabilities.

View original case study article at localdigital.gov.uk