The smart future for Councils
Having taken out the Information Technology category in the National Awards for Local Government for three years in a row, Victoria’s City of Whittlesea won a Special Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2002 Awards. As a leader in this field, Whittlesea stages its National Technology Innovation Conference each February.
Its third annual conference, held on 14 February, once again attracted delegates from around the country.
Conference MC, Stuart Morris QC, said that the full day program enabled delegates to consider how technology will be adapted to enhance our lives and communities. He said with Whittlesea’s promotion of the Intelligent City concept, since 1997 computer ownership in Whittlesea has increased from 34 to 58 percent by 2001. In that same period, Internet access has rocketed from six per cent to 41 percent.
“What will happen with technology advances in the future may be quite different to what is imagined,” Stuart Morris said. “We need to know about the technologies that will be available even though their eventual use may differ greatly.”
The keynote address was presented by David Molchany, Chief Information Officer from Fairfax County, Virginia, USA. With one million residents and a staff of 33,000 (including police, fire fighters and teachers), the County Council area forms part of the Washington DC conurbation. He told delegates that it is vital to look at the people you are serving before developing a plan to achieve Council’s IT goals.
“You are in the job of information brokering for everyone that needs it,” David Molchany said. “It must be efficient, accessible and meet the needs of all customers. To include everyone, your plan must provide for various modes of access. In Fairfax, we have our own cable TV channel, as well as the web and information kiosks. With web sites, all pages should have a standard, recognisable format that is easy to navigate. It must be convenient, fast and high quality.”
He referred to ‘government without borders’, that is, the means to do business with any level of government through the one entry point. Just in time access to services from anywhere, empowering Council staff in the field, on the spot access to government and digital democracy, where residents can have direct input to decision making processes, are key issues that David Molchany believes should be built into all Local Government IT plans.
