Capgemini successfully delivered an online solution to improve funding application process for the Welsh European Funding Office. This means that important business and community projects can get to essential funds more quickly and easily.

1. in collaboration with
Advanced Web Technology
Streamlines European Funding at the
Welsh Government
How Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) and
Capgemini teams collaborated in an award-winning
programme that puts Wales ahead of the rest of Europe
in the efficient handling of EU structural funds
The Situation technology to produce a user-friendly
European funding is important to the solution – and one able to handle the
Welsh economy and Welsh society, with complexity of the European Union (EU)
some £3.9 billion available to Wales from rules involved, to incorporate the financial
the European Regional Development Fund and security safeguards essential for
(ERDF) and the European Social Fund handling large sums of public money, and
(ESF). The Welsh Government’s Welsh to flexibly accommodate frequent changes
European Funding Office (WEFO) was in EU legislation.
determined to ensure that applications for
funds – from businesses, communities, The Result
public and third-sector organisations – The project was completed to a tight
could be handled quickly, efficiently and deadline making Wales the first of the 40
with minimum bureaucracy. regions in the EU to have a fully functional
online funds processing system. The system
The Solution successfully processed applications for 176
Working with the Welsh Government’s long- projects with a total value of £1.3 billion in
term IT outsourcing partner, Capgemini its first two years, cut processing times in
UK, the joint WEFO and Capgemini team half, and won the ‘IT Outsourcing Project
quickly decided that in a connected world, of the Year’ award from the European
the logical solution was to offer a fully Outsourcing Association, and,
online facility to applicants, eliminating in a separate awards
the need for unnecessary paperwork
and lengthy phone calls. The WEFO
Online project harnessed
advanced web
“ The efficiency of WEFO Online
is crucial to the successful delivery of
the European Structural Funds, which
support jobs and growth across the
Welsh economy. I applaud the WEFO
and Capgemini teams whose hard work
”
and commitment have resulted in such a
tremendous success.
Damien O’Brien,
Acting Director of European Programmes
Directorate, Welsh Government

2. Public Sector the way we do it
scheme, the top IT award from the UK’s availability, or the number of new releases parties to rest on their laurels and their joint
National Outsourcing Association. achieving a right-first-time error-free determination to demonstrate a policy of
rating), the results have been the same: all continuous improvement – and tangible
How the Welsh Government and objectives have been met in full, and in results from that policy. This has already
Capgemini Worked together most cases significantly exceeded. led to efficiency savings of more than
The Capgemini focus at the Welsh £200,000 per annum.
Government’s Welsh European Funding Capgemini also applied its formal client
Office was primarily on collaborative satisfaction review process to check on The programme has made Wales a top
working to maximise WEFO business WEFO’s views on relatively intangible performer among the 40 regions in the
performance for the benefit of the objectives, for example ‘responsiveness to European Community for the efficiency
Welsh economy. Great importance was new requirements’, ‘development of high of its EU Structural Funds administration,
and is placed on achieving the highest quality relationships with WEFO staff’, and proved that this complex challenge
overall service levels. In designing and ‘organising the team to achieve results’. can be successfully met when intelligently
implementing WEFO Online, a joint In all these areas WEFO has consistently managed and supported by an excellent IT
team of Capgemini IT and business awarded Capgemini an ‘excellent’ rating – and outsourcing partner. It has also brought
transformation specialists worked the highest available. With WEFO firmly significant benefits to the future of the Welsh
seamlessly with people from WEFO’s own established as a key part of the Welsh economy and the Welsh nation.
ICT and Business Change units. The team social and economic landscape, a further
composition ensured that all stakeholder important feature of the way in which If you would like to find out more about
views and needs were taken fully into WEFO and Capgemini work together has this project, please contact:
account, and that the best of today’s web come to the fore. That is the refusal of both success.story@capgemini.com
technology was selected and properly
integrated into the delivered solution.
About Capgemini
The WEFO Online solution integrates
®
best-of-breed workflow, document
management, web browser and scanning With more than 115,000 Capgemini has developed its own way of
technologies into a highly effective case people in 40 countries, Capgemini working, the Collaborative Business
management solution. It also includes the is one of the world’s foremost providers of ExperienceTM, and draws on Rightshore®, its
consulting, technology and outsourcing worldwide delivery model.
first fully bilingual (English and Welsh)
services. The Group reported 2010 global
internet-based application for Welsh
revenues of EUR 8.7 billion. Together with Learn more about us at
Government. its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers www.capgemini.com
business and technology solutions that fit
In addition to selecting Capgemini their needs and drive the results they want. Rightshore® is a trademark belonging to
to create WEFO Online, the Welsh Capgemini
A deeply multicultural organization,
Government also chose Capgemini to
support the new system (until 2016)
Capgemini UK Approved by
under a long-term outsourcing contract.
Public Sector Damien O’Brien, Acting Director of European
IT Transformation Programmes Directorate, Welsh Government
A key feature of the programme was
Andy McDonough, Business Development
the determination by both WEFO and
Director, Capgemini UK plc
Capgemini to put in place monitoring
Gareth Hodge, Service Delivery Manager,
processes to provide objective, numerical
Capgemini UK plc
measures at frequent, regular intervals of
both business and technical performance About WEFO of some £1.6 billion, representing a
of WEFO Online. The numbers recorded total project investment of some £3.18
during the system’s operation to date billion. These will help provide over
27,600 opportunities for businesses and
(more than two years now) tell an The Welsh European Funding Office some 600,000 employment and training
impressive story. For business objectives (WEFO) is part of the Welsh Government opportunities for individuals across Wales.
(such as the percentage of EU money and manages the delivery of European Total expenditure for EU projects is nearly
available each year actually being paid Union Structural Funds programmes £1.2bn (EU funds some £552m), based
out, or the percentage of claims authorised in Wales. The 2007–2013 European on claims submitted by sponsors and paid
within 21days of being submitted, or the Structural Funds programmes are by WEFO.
number of claims processed per year, or investing in projects that can help achieve
the average time taken to process claims), sustainable growth and jobs in Wales. For more information, please visit:
As of 31 January 2012, a total of 255 www.wefo.wales.gov.uk
and for IT objectives (such as systems
170212_IN
projects have been approved EU funds
©2012 Capgemini. No part of this document may be modified, deleted or expanded by any process or means
without prior written permission from Capgemini. Rightshore® is a trademark belonging to Capgemini.