Specifically, the Mayor's task force on e-government recommends the city adopt a citizen-centric approach to technology that allows residents to access municipal services without staff assistance. The report also suggests any new project proposal requiring an increase in staff also contain a technology-oriented alternative and that technology expenditures be viewed as an investment in productivity with a long-term payback, rather than being looked at through the lens of the annual budgeting process.
Simply spending more on technology will not achieve any dramatic savings unless it is accompanied by a change in governance, said retired Cognos chief information officer Rob Collins, who chaired the task force.
"The current level of investment is not sufficient, but (more spending) won't achieve the results without changes to the governance structure ... Staff will have to believe the culture will change. There are lots of smart people with good ideas," said Mr. Collins during his presentation Tuesday morning at City Hall during the OBJ's Mayor's Breakfast Series.
Mr. Collins said council should start by putting forward clear objectives for senior staff, who should come up with a structure for city employees to see how technology fits in with their jobs and engage in high-level planning so technology investments can be applied across multiple city departments.
However, he said the biggest change should come at the branch level where services are delivered. Staff should be accountable and able to make technological changes, rather than the current "backwards" model where they look to the city's IT department to make changes.
Mr. Collins also emphasized the need for a "citizen-centric" model that gives residents a self-service option, much like how library patrons can check out books themselves. He noted this allows the library system to serve more residents without hiring more staff.
"Why should I have to go to City Hall to do something simple? Why can't I do it over the Internet?" he asked.
Mr. Collins added he hoped Ottawa residents would provide their input and comment on the report, titled, Changing the Conversation.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Peter Kovessy
Quelle/Source: Ottawa Business Journal, 17.06.2008
