CDS wins Optimizely EMEA Digital Social Impact Award

January 2022

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We are delighted to announce that CDS has won the EMEA Digital Social Impact Award at the Optimizer Awards 2021 – for the Police Single Online Home (SOH) working in partnership with the Police Digital Public Contact (DPC) Programme. The award recognises the positive impact of the Single Online Home (SOH) platform for all UK police services.

Single Online Home brings together 19 of the UK’s 43 police forces in a single ‘digital police station’, allowing members of the public to report crime online while improving efficiency and reducing administration for officers.

CDS and DPC worked together to revolutionise digital policing; the vision was to create a platform in which “the experience of connecting with police through digital channels will be as helpful, personal and reassuring as approaching an officer on the street”.

SOH consists of numerous sites under one Optimizely (previously Episerver) administrative interface, developed by CDS, with a consistent set of common templates. It has the flexibility to scale, allowing new police services to join the platform and to tailor content, with each creating their own identity. All whilst maintaining consistency and functionality nationally.

The Optimizer Awards recognise companies that show “outstanding achievements in digital innovation and creativity” that leverage digital potential to ‘forge paths for others to do the same.

Chief Constable and Senior Responsible Officer for the National Police Chiefs Council’s DPC Programme, Simon Cole, kindly accepted the award virtually, stating that SOH had achieved its vision by becoming a widely integrated platform used by 70% of the public in England and Wales. Single Online Home improves “public safeguarding by providing a range of convenient, accessible, integrated police services”.

Thank you to our wonderful clients DPC. We have worked tirelessly together to develop one of the most successful Government digital programmes, making a positive difference to people’s safety and wellbeing. We would also like to thank our strategic partner Optimizely, for creating the technology and interface that enabled it.