CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL says every service it provides to the community is enabled by investments in technologies, tools and systems. At the same time, the council is cognisant of the shifting level of technological sophistication among citizens.

Rapid uptake of tablet devices and smartphones are changing the way people want to interact with the council, how they obtain information and request and pay for services.

The shift in the Christchurch community’s media consumption habits means the council must be resourced and ready to change to meet the needs of our community.

With these business drivers, the Council, with CIO Gavin Till as activity manager, proposed two key changes in the activity focus of the 200-member ICT team.

First is the increased focus on citizen/community engagement and online self service. This is a result of citizens expecting to be able to interact with Council using the channel of their choice, whether it be online, digital and mobile, or more traditional channels such as face-to-face and telephone.

Second is to increase the support for 24x7 operations amidst expectations of service delivery continuity from citizens. Thus, the council now operates a 24x7 contact centre, where previously out of hours service was outsourced. Increase of online services requires greater level of system availability, reliability and support, according to the council’s Information Technology Activity Management Long Term Plan 2015–2025.

Over the past year, projects in support of this goal include the implementation of virtual desktops and upgrading Office.

Till says ICT project numbers and staff will increase in 2016. The range of projects include CRM, integration platform, business intelligence, online services and open data.

The council will also invest in technologies around customer experience, collaboration and application modernisation, says Till.