This new software solution is designed to help government departments, contractors and suppliers in the UK construction industry reduce waste, prevent fraud and accelerate payments across the supply chain.
Built in close collaboration with major infrastructure players in the UK, Digital Cost Assurance automates the comparison and analysis of millions of lines of cost data and payment requests, authorising those that meet set criteria for payment and highlighting those that do not for further investigation.
The platform’s end-to-end capabilities offer benefits to each stakeholder in the construction sector. Government and public sector buyers can analyse all of their costs in the same time it currently takes to work through approximately a fifth of that data. They have visibility to identify any false payments, duplicated outgoings or even instances of fraud, assuring that taxpayer funds are properly utilised. Early testing of Digital Cost Assurance revealed that up to 19% of costs on a major National Highways infrastructure project should never have been paid, which is equivalent to millions of pounds in public money.
Additionally, contractors can reduce resource costs by automating validation tasks and avoiding rework, while tier one suppliers and subcontractors can take advantage of faster payments and improved cash flow thanks to reduced manual intervention and fewer disputes.
Chelsea Chamberlin, Chief Technology Officer at Roc Technologies says, “Digital Cost Assurance was built hand-in-hand with experts inside the construction industry to address real problems they face every day. The result is a system that’s already proving its value by delivering both cost savings to buyers and bottom-line benefits to suppliers and construction businesses. For example, the automation of manual elements alone can save Government buyers up to £20,000,000 per annum. As such, the technology has the potential to transform how infrastructure projects are managed across the UK and have a tangible impact on our economic position.”
Roc offers multi-level support to ensure successful deployment and ongoing use of Digital Cost Assurance. This includes first-line support including access to FAQs, knowledge base articles and self-serve resources for common questions and day-to-day use, right up to fourth-line support. This allows for direct access to Roc’s engineering and product teams for bespoke ruleset implementation, expertise during audits, supply chain training and other support.
Additionally, to support initial implementation, Digital Cost Assurance can be quickly deployed as a low-code version within existing processes and data standards. It enables organisations to evaluate cost discrepancies, establish a business case for full implementation, and tailor the platform to their specific rule sets, before deploying the high-code, robust and fully configurable version.
With security and compliance front of mind, Digital Cost Assurance benefits from Roc’s extensive credentials which includes ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus and its dedicated Security Operations Centre. This provides peace of mind for clients handling sensitive financial data and provides a mechanism to gather cost and payment data for audit purposes, thereby de-risking accounts.
Although Roc will continue to remain focused on managed IT services as part of its long-term strategy, the launch of Digital Cost Assurance under the new Coria brand aligns with the provider’s ambition to solve real problems within industries that have a significant impact on the UK economy.
About Roc Technologies
Roc Technologies delivers innovative, dynamic and transformational IT solutions and services to empower public and private sector organisations across the UK. The Roc portfolio combines highly secure critical infrastructure solutions with emerging technologies, all supported by end-to-end managed services and a 24/7 Managed Services Operations Centre.
Our adaptable and agile teams pride themselves on offering excellent personal service and reliable ongoing support, employing ‘best of breed’ technologies that deliver measurable outcomes for organisations so they can meet their strategic objectives and unleash the power of technology. With some of the most rigorous security accreditations in the UK, Roc has been trusted to support the largest and most complex organisations with their most sensitive data for over a decade.