Civica, one of Australia’s leading suppliers of software, technology and outsourcing services that helps transform the way organisations work, today announced its partnership with the City of Rockingham in Western Australia, to develop the ‘Rock Port’, an e-service community portal where citizens can manage a number of different services online.
Civica helped develop Rock Port, which is available 24/7, allowing citizens to log in at any time, from any device. The portal also interacts directly with unique profile data, automatically managing payments and relaying personal preferences to the council. The information from Rock Port is accessible via Civica Authority, an application suite designed specifically for local government. Civica Authority offers more than 40 modules of software to assist councils with the running of their highly diverse services. The Community Portal solution is now commercially available to other local authorities in Australia & New Zealand.
The newly launched portal was designed by council representatives in collaboration with the local community. This collaborative approach to decision making is defined as co-design. It involves both government and citizens working together to identify the services needed and the most efficient use of resources, and was the topic of a recent Civica research report in conjunction with University of Technology Sydney: Centre for Local Government (www.civica.com.au).
Since going live in early March Rock Port has already registered 751 citizens. Each citizen can set up their own profile and receive information about relevant topics, opt in to electronic versions of the city’s publications and pay their accounts online. They will also be able to provide input on upcoming projects to help shape the city’s future.
Through Civica’s e-service community portal, Rockingham’s over 130,000 residents will be able to connect to the council at any time of the day, providing news on important issues and future projects via any PC, tablet or mobile device.
Barry Sammels, Mayor of the City of Rockingham in Western Australia said, “Keeping in touch with the Rockingham community, receiving relevant information and engaging with the many different projects we are doing, is now easier than ever thanks to Rock Port.
“Whether you want to check your rates balance, receive publications via email, have a specific request or share your thoughts on a new project – Rock Port provides a simple ‘one-stop shop’ to do this.”
As a response to growing community demand for greater involvement in decision making, Rock Port was designed to enable the City of Rockingham to be more transparent in its management and policies. The council will also receive regular feedback from the community via a ‘happiness index’.
Matthew Montgomery, Sales Director Civica Local Government Solutions, said, “Civica has been working with the City of Rockingham since 2003 on various projects and Rock Port is an excellent example of the two organisations working together to improve service delivery and efficiency. It is great to see that the council is taking action to enhance communications and engagement with its citizens to offer the best technology services that are tailored to their needs.”
*Copy supplied by Civica
