Top consulting groups are backing the automation of business processes still mired in the paper intensive mindset of the 20th century. A recent report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) New Zealand highlighted the importance of automating key business processes that aren’t already supported by software systems. According to PwC, research conducted by Gartner Consulting in the United States indicates that only 30 per cent of a company’s processes are supported by a software tool. The same may be said for Local Government.
While some Councils have adopted electronic workflow to automate business processes, they still encounter obstacles when faced with the need to reply to online queries with official documents. For example, a ratepayer may query the ownership of a building via the Council’s website. Traditionally he or she may have received a response by fax or post as someone at Council had to sign off on the document. Standards based digital signatures, however, allow Councils to obviate paper based responses, completing the process online, positioning them to deliver services to their constituents over a demonstrably shorter period of time. This leads to concomitant benefits in other areas.
Particularly of interest to Local Governments will be the ability to reduce costs associated with traditional paper based processes, such as paper, printing, ink, scanning, faxing, postage, and processing time.
To learn more on how CoSign can enable your Council to streamline its business processes and become truly paperless visit www.tme.co.nz/CoSign.html
* Copy supplied by TME Consulting
