LGAM Knowledge Base

Hi, Everyone,

We are conducting a study into on-line services delivery (covering Australian and New Zealand local councils), and I would like to share some preliminary findings with you and seek your views/ comments.

One of the areas I am looking into is financial benefits - the revenue attributed to the services delivered on-line appears to be around 3% of the total council revenue (this is an average across local councils). It looks a bit low. About 30% of the councils that participated in our survey so far reported that more than 10% of their rates transactions are executed on-line, but I can not see this being reflected in the revenue.

Any views?

Thanks,

Leila
Research Director
Technology Indicators

Hi, Everyone,

One of the aspects of on-line service delivery / Local E-Government we are looking into is utilization of interactive / Web2.0 concepts and tools.

Preliminary results of our study show that although many local councils feel that they would benefit from the adoption of blogs/discussion forums and knowledge sharing (wikis, SlideShare, etc), one of the key issues is to find the right staff to make use of these tools (our study captures management perspectives on this topic). The issue appears to be not only about availability of the staff to engage in knowledge sharing and/or e-consultations with customers, but also lack of skills – eg ability to moderate discussion forums and process unstructured data.

Although there are other issues with the adoption of Web 2.0 concepts, including lack of demand for this in the areas with low internet penetration /poor internet performance, it looks like addressing the staffing/skills issues may be critical for determining the future of Web2.0 in LG.

What do you think? Does anyone have an example of or strategies for upskilling people to make use of the tools like Twitter, wikis and discussion forums?

Leila
Technology Indicators

About 30% of the local councils that participated in our study so far reported that they do not process rates transactions via internet. Key issues here appear to be inadequate functionality of the existing IT systems and difficulties with integration of e-solutions with core back-end systems.

Does anyone have an example of an efficient deployment / integration of e-solutions for rates payments?

Thanks,
Leila
Technology Indicators

Our survey (LG on-line services delivery) will be open for another 2 weeks (while I am processing the results). The demand for e-services and pressures for their efficient delivery are growing. This study aims to provide local councils with comparative data that would enable them to validate and calibrate their e-strategies and practices.

Similar studies have been done overseas - for example, in the UK, local councils' websites are ranked annually. On the national level, UN ranks e-government capabilities of about 200 nations every 2 years.

If you like to share your perspective, and, in return, leverage a collective experience of our peers, please contact me via my e-mail. This survey is open to Australian and New Zealand local councils, and all participating councils will receive a complimentary copy of a report based on the survey results.

The first part of this study captures business perspectives and looks into e-strategies from the point of view of 4 key business objectives – Public Service, Business/Economic Development, Financial Sustainability/ Efficient Operation and Community Engagement. A questionnaire designed for Corporate Services and Comms Managers takes about 15 min to complete.

The second part of the study enables benchmarking of e-capabilities using 18 parameters grouped around 3 key functions of LG websites – Inform, Transact and Engage. A questionnaire designed for IT Managers takes 10-15 min.

Thanks,

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