CRN Greater Manchester Core Team blog series: Digital Team
Our goal is to implement and develop digital tools to improve our ways of working, data collection and data reporting. In essence, we exist to improve the ability of the CRN to deliver exceptional experience through digital transformation.
Using digital tools we streamline processes, remove repetitive manual effort and modernise our organisation. This is realised by our close collaboration with colleagues in and out of the CRN.
In Greater Manchester, the digital team is embedded within the Study Support Service which allows us to collaborate closely to improve and digitally transform our services. We also work closely with our business intelligence team and end users in our partner organisations as part of a user-centred approach to designing new tool and services - What this means is we make sure it works and makes sense to end users. For example we regularly co-design user friendly data systems to support performance monitoring of portfolio studies. Building trust in digital is always at the heart of what we do. Without people, digital tools are worthless.
Day to day, we are responsible for maintaining both internal and external reporting on the Open Data Platform (ODP). This includes tailored reports for our partner organisations as well and reports that we use to deliver our services. We have made some exciting developments with our reporting in recent months. We have been moving some dashboards over to a new version of ODP which has proven to be much more user friendy for our partners.
Additionally, we train new users on the NIHR Hub and other internal tools. We represent CRN GM on several national groups meaning our voice is heard and we get early access and input into new tools and technologies coming to the NIHR as a whole.
With the pace that digital tool and technologies move no two days are the same and I genuinely believe we have the best job in the CRN!
Isaac Parr
Digital Project Manager
January 2024
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
