“The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.”
-Bill Gates
What does digital government look like?
Digital government doesn’t mean holograms, laser beams and a matrix…
But we can talk about your emails!
Or lack thereof. With the transition to a more digital government, you’re able to eliminate unnecessary emails. You’re also able to help organize your paperwork and make your job a lot simpler overall.
We’ve spoken with many clerks, public works directors, planning directors, IT Directors, etc. – and from what I gathered, you get frustrated when things aren’t transparent throughout the agency. If a permit or license has been submitted, you should be able to see which stage in the process it is, right? Or If an item needs to be updated and added to the agenda last minute, it should be a cakewalk for you – or someone else – to put it together.
There are tons of companies that can help you with the efficiency in your backend workflows and on your websites. After diving deeper into this type of digital movement, it’s fun to see how automating the backbone – or the infrastructure of your government agency – can drive growth in so many different areas.
If you have a population of at least 500 residents, now is a great time to develop your infrastructure. If you have a population of 250,000 residents, you have an influx of requests, and your online services need to be processed. The solutions that digital government companies provide make it easy to focus on bigger tasks at hand. Do you ever feel stretched thin or have a lot on your plate? Automate! Digitize!
What can I do to digitize my municipality?
What if you started treating your website like an online portal to your town hall?
A place where people can go to talk with their neighbors, speak to their council members, watch the council videos, pay for their utilities, and everything else that builds your economy and engagement. As a government agency, you usually have extremely big goals with your online presence; and that’s why these things take time. We’ve researched many agencies’ websites, so we understand what you as IT Directors and Website Administrators are thinking; the direction you want to go with the interface, and the vision that you have for a more efficient infrastructure.
Keeping processes manual and organized in excel sheets and email has become an old technology. However, don’t feel overwhelmed with these transitions. We understand you have processes that you’re comfortable with. Join our community and collaborate with colleagues in surrounding areas. As a digital government, we can be in this together! You could also have companies demo their products and show you the tools they use for to evolve various internal processes.
You may think it’s hard to get started without a strong digital background, but it’s not! Check out these companies that can help you get started with your digital transformation:
- Caspio – Takes very complex and intricate analysis systems and makes them very easy to use. The data that’s provided is custom organized which will help drive efficiency when working with your finances, forms, surveys, project management, and more. As a company that takes security and compliance as a top priority, local and state government can ensure that Caspio is reliable. There are success stories that range from the Tennessee Department of Health, to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, to the city of Thousand Oaks, CA. Make sure you’re staying “digitally mature”. Try it for free!
- Knack – Emails and Excel sheets are overrated! From accepting payments to analyzing data, utilize this no-code, app-developing tool in order to stay organized, share and collaborate on your information easily. Create a workflow that makes sense for the entire agency, or a specific department within the agency. If you’re looking for transparency from end-to end, these automation tools are the perfect solution; a great combination of spreadsheet and database. With data-driven visualizations such as charts and graphs, Knack’s tools allow you to gain a bigger picture of your information. Analytics are going to help drive the future of your agency, so you’ll want to make sure they’re organized. Knack has helped agencies including the Cities of Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, and more.