2024 SAG Award Winners

The Department of Education

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Project Goal

The Department of Education’s Solar PV Programme (SPP) project involved the installation of solar PV panels in school buildings across the island of Ireland.
Emphasising sustainability and technological innovation, the project aimed to employ a Digital First project delivery model to streamline the application and approval processes for solar panel installation using advanced GIS tools.
Key to this initiative was the onboarding school principals onto Hub Premium, enabling them to submit approval requests via a custom-designed Survey123 form. Specialised administration dashboards for the Department's internal team would be crucial for the swift and effective processing of applications at various stages. A significant innovation was the integration of MS Power Automate to enhance the communication flow, for both the department and school principals. Reporting dashboards would provide real-time data and insights to senior management facilitating informed decision-making.
Learn more about our application: Site 1

Business Problem Solved

1. Providing a secure platform for the Department to engage with schools principals for SPP and similar national level programmes to be managed using the Digital First approach.
2. One of the main challenges was enabling school principals to track and update their applications after initial submission. This was crucial, as depending on the availability of suitable contractors, principals could potentially be required to submit multiple applications.
3. Managing the progression of each application through specific stage gates posed a complex challenge. The project required a system that could automatically advance applications based on certain criteria, necessitating sophisticated programming within the Survey123 forms.
4. Communicating with over 1,600 schools at each stage of the application process was another significant challenge. We required a system that could automate this process to reduce manual errors, operational costs, and contribute to better informed decisions.

Technology Implemented

1. The implementation of Hub Premium provides a digital platform which makes it easy to effectively engage with school stakeholders on large-scale programmes and accommodates school principals with varying levels of technical expertise.
2. To address the challenge of tracking applications, a dashboard was integrated into the Hub site with an embedded the Survey123 form. This allowed principals to log in and update their application forms as needed and accommodated the submitting multiple applications over time.
3. Automatically progressing applications through specific stage gates based on predefined criteria was achieved using hidden calculations and 'pulldata' functions within the Survey123 forms thus ensuring a smooth and efficient processing system.
4. The successful integration of MS Power Automate and Survey123 for email notifications ensured timely and consistent communication reducing the likelihood of delays and miscommunication, improving the coordination of the project.

Development Team Biography

Alen O'Farrell B. Arch (Hons) - Senior Architect working with the Department of Education since 2019. Alen has been developing GIS applications and solutions for the department for the past 4 years.
Patrick Kelly - Senior Technical Officer working with the Department of Education for over 30 years, Pat has been developing GIS applications and solutions for the department for the past 4 years.
Adam Corcoran - Bachelor's degree in German and Geography and a master's degree in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)