"There are certain parts of this proposal that we do have to address upfront — and now — and some of that being security issues," City Administrator Ed Driggers has told the council. Hackers "could cause us some havoc and some problems."
The council heard a proposal for technology consulting services from Jeff Polizzotto, vice president of sales, with Columbia-based VC3 Inc. at a council retreat Friday. The services would cost $8,000 per month.
Meanwhile, Greer's neighboring city, Greenville, is updating its e-government services this year, said Candace Sommer, public relations coordinator. Currently residents can't pay the city bills or parking tickets online, but the city is moving toward that.
"A lot of cities are doing more and more of this, and we're trying to get up to speed with everybody else," Sommer said. "It's just a matter of getting the technology in place and making sure it all works correctly."
Greenville residents can requests service such as new recycling bins or report trash in a vacant lot through the online Greenville Cares service, said the service's coordinator, Kristie Anderson. Requests are tracked so that the city knows what has been done.
Greer Commission of Public Works customers have been able to pay utility bills — gas, water, electricity and sewer — online since October 2001, said CPW Finance Manager Ed Armendariz.
So far, only 3.5 percent of CPW customers pay online, but "every month that it has been in place, it has grown," Armendariz said.
Each customer's utility bill has an access number on it. The customer punches in the number at the CPW Web site to pay online. The site is secure and isn't connected to the city of Greer's site, Armendariz said.
VC3 assessed Greer's technological health and found it wanting. In addition to security issues, disaster recovery isn't adequate in case data is lost, Polizzotto said.
The City Council will look at the security and backup issues as well as possibilities that citizens could download accident reports to send off to their insurance companies or apply for business licenses online.
"We are not providing the highest level of service that we may be able to provide using available technology," the Greer city administrator said.
"There are certain applications that we would certainly like to make available to the community," he said. "Folks are becoming more and more electronic."
Quelle: Greenville online
