Public Services in Contemporary Society: A Research Project

Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers to help students succeed.

Research project: Public Services in Contemporary
Society and the Influence of Digital Technology
1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
P1 Describe the development of public services.............................................................................5
P3 Describe the operational structure of a given public services organisation...............................7
P4 Explain how the public sector is held accountable for its actions and direction both
operationally and strategically.......................................................................................................12
M1 Investigate the ways in which contemporary practice sits within a tradition of historical
practice...........................................................................................................................................13
M2 Assess the structure of a public sector organisation with reference to responsibilities..........14
D1Evaluate contemporary issues within the development of public services...............................16
P5 Explain the types of sources of funding available to the public sector....................................21
P6 Identify how funding is allocated to different public sector organisations..............................23
P7 Define the strategy, structure and role of public sector organisations.....................................24
M3 Assess the impact of funding from different sources and its allocation within the public
sector..............................................................................................................................................25
M4 Assess the impact of proposed changes upon the society in which public sector organisations
serve...............................................................................................................................................26
D2 Analyse the allocation of funding within the public sector and the impact of funding,
structure and strategy on the sector...............................................................................................27
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................29
2

Reference List................................................................................................................................30
Introduction
The development of globalisation has enhanced the functioning of public sector organisations in
providing necessary service to the people through advancements in their activities. The need for
integrating digital technology in the performance of organisations in public sector improves the
deliverance of services to the population of the country (Janowski, 2015). The following study
will provide information regarding the influence of digital technology in the functioning of
Royal Air Force (RAF). The integrated operations of the RAF with the aid of digital technology
help the organisation to conduct their business operations in the competitive business
environment through collaborative working and development of workforce. Digital technology
enhances the scope of public engagement with the RAF’s activities as well. The RAF is
identified as a part of the UK’s war force. Established in 1918, the RAF is a part of the British
Armed Forces and specialises in aerial warfare (Royal Air Force, 2019).
The strategic development of the work performed by public services is identified through the
integration of digital technology in their regular activities. The increase in efficiency and
improvement of quality of services by the public sector organisations can be associated with the
integration of digital framework in their organisational performance (Osborne et al., 2015). The
following study aims to perform an investigation of the development ensued in public services as
well as examine the accountability and responsibility of organisational structures within
contemporary public sector organisations. The various sources of funds and allocation tactics
3

within the public services organisations would be analysed in the study as well as a strategic
review of the role, structure and performance of the sector would be conducted in the study.
4

P1 Describe the development of public services
Public Services are the services that are supplied to the general people by the government of the
country. These services are provided to everyone and are subject to no discrimination. Public
sectors do not include the production of products. 5.37 million Employees served in the public
sectors until December 2018 in the UK. Due to the Welsh and Scottish housing associations, the
private sectors witnessed a massive growth in employment in a year. The public sectors are
responsible for providing the different healthcare services, schooling and emergency services
that are beneficial to the common people of the country and totally funded by the government
agencies.
The introduction of digital technology in public services has changed the relationship between
the people and the government of the country. The tax agreements are improved with the help of
technological National Identity system Costantini et al., 2015).. With the help of block chain
technology, the country has been able to bring transparency by reducing the amount of
corruption. The system helps in encryption of the important data, which one cannot get access
without proper permissions. In addition, the block chain technology helps the government to
secure the transfer of funds. The government has also been able to deliver proper healthcare and
educational services with the improvement in technology. With the help proper monitoring tools,
the government has been able to keep an eye of the facilities that are provided by the educational
institutes. The digital tools also provide the healthcare conditions of the citizens of a particular
place and help the government to aim their procedures to provide safe medications to people.
The public transportation has also seen a massive development in the country. With the help of
technology, it is possible to deliver real time information about the vehicle services to the general
5

people. In addition, augmented reality has helped the police departments to identify and be
alerted about different disaster situations and provide help to the people (Winston and
Mannering, 2014). These systems provide the accurate information of such environmental
hazards to the government departments. The biggest advantage that this technology provides to
the government is that it helps them to receive proper feedback from the people of the country.
P2 Outline the development of a selected public service organisation
Development in Royal Air Force due to technology:
Telepresence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality: The candidates who are recruited for the
RAF need to undergo very tough training that would be similar to real-world scenarios. The
Augmented Reality thus helps the RAF by helping them to improve the skills of the trainees by
providing them with proper training scenarios and applications (Rae, 2014). The training time is
also shortened by these procedures. The other focus of the RAF is effective to repair and
maintenance of their inventories and machines. This need can also be satisfied with the help of
these technologies.
3D Printing: This technological role has many implementations in the RAF. They are
assumptions of parts of Tornado Fighter Jets and development of lightweight armours. It is also
used to develop military prototypes and improve productions.
Robotics: These technology has been influential in the advancements of RAF. The robots are
capable of completing tasks that were primarily done by humans. The biggest example is the
clearance and cleaning of the runways in the military by the robots. This work was historically
assigned to specific individuals, but with the help of technology, manual labour has been
reduced. Robots increase the efficiency in the operations and benefits in cost.
6

Cyber Security: The RAF is responsible for safeguarding highly important data about the
locations, contacts, and access codes of the military. The security of theses information can be
ensured by cyber security. In addition, the RAF is investing more in Cyber security for efficient
management of the machines and planes, which are highly dependent on modern technologies.
Internet of Things: This technology has developed the working of devices in the non-military
areas and helped the RAF to ensure high efficiency of all devices in their sector. Some examples
are automated fleet management, control of perimeter fencing and gate monitoring.
P3 Describe the operational structure of a given public services organisation
The operational structure of the RAF can be divided into three parts according to their territorial
areas. These are:
1 group: Responsible for the fast combat jet aircraft in RAF
2 group: Responsible for tactics and management of the regiments of RAF
22 group: Responsible for recruiting and training of new candidates in RAF.
Figure 1: The three groups of RAF
7

(Source: Royal Air Force Hierarchy Structure, 2012)
Based on commissioned officers, the RAF is divided into three categories:
Air Rank: Comprises of:
 Marshal: The highest five star rank of RAF
 Air Chief Marshal: Equal to the admirals, these four-star officers are responsible for the
management of senior officer.
 Air Marshal: These are the three-star officers, also refereed to as vice-admirals.
 Air Vice-marshals: These are two-star officers in the military.
 Air Commodore: The junior most of the Air rank hierarchy with one star in the military.
Figure 2: Divisions of the Air Rank Category
(Source: Royal Air Force Hierarchy Structure, 2012)
Senior Officers Category: These can be categorized into:
8

 Group Captain: In the RAF, this is the rank of the senior commissioned individual, who
is considered just below the Air commodore.
 Wing Commander: This role has the same equivalence as of the commander in the Royal
Navy and responsible for the administration.
Figure 3: The divisions of the Senior Officer category
(Source: Royal Air Force Hierarchy Structure, 2012)
 Squadron Leader: The rank of the Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Navy is identical
to the Squadron Leader and considered as the main fighting unit in the military.
Junior Officers Category: This can be divided into:
 Flight lieutenant: in the hierarchy of RAF, this is considered as the junior most position.
This rank is identical to the Lieutenant of the Royal Navy.
 Flying officer: This rank has equal importance as of the Sub-lieutenant of the Royal
Navy.
9

 Pilot officer: These are the lowest rank in the hierarchy of the Royal air force.
Figure 4: The divisions of the Junior Officers Category
(Source: Royal Air Force Hierarchy Structure, 2012)
Diagram of RAF structure:
10

Figure 5: Diagram of the Royal Air Force’s Structure
(Source: 497 Daventry Squadron, 2014)
The RAF follows the line organisation. The authority flows from the top to the lowest levels
through the structure of the organisation. The whole organisation is divided into departments,
which are lead by a leader.
11

P4 Explain how the public sector is held accountable for its actions and direction both
operationally and strategically
The public sectors run by the funding from the government agencies. The government agencies
receive these funds form the general citizens in the country in terms of taxes. These sectors are
directly accountable to the citizens as they function with the sole aim to benefit the people. The
legal and reporting framework, strategy, procedures can estimate the accountability of these
sectors. The citizen’s safety and benefits should be the key aim of these bodies. The methods of
transparency, fairness, integrity, and trust are used to ensure that the functions of the public
services are directed towards the citizens.
The RAF represents efficiency in accountability, as the organisation is required to face wars and
engage in conflicts. Therefore, factors like Air Safety management and Air lessons are
practised by the organisation. The Air safety represents the procedures that are needed to identify
and practised by the RAF to ensure safety to their candidates. Specific personnel at the station
level are responsible for the strategic controlling of the Air Safety (Harvey, 2014). On the other
hand, Air Lessons are the precise learning of the skills, captures, and analysis, which are required
for all the projects. The lessons are carried out at central of the organisation.
12