|
15 report from the Mayor’s e-governance task force
RAPPORT DU GROUPE DE TRAVAIL
DU MAIRE SUR LA CYBERADMINISTRATION |
Committee RecommendationS
That Council:
1. Direct staff to assess the business case for
strategic investments in technology in their day-to-day operations, and that a
technology assessment and business case be included in every Committee and
Council report, where relevant, so that Council has as much information as
possible regarding the potential for technology investments to improve service
to citizens;
2. Direct the Executive Director of Business
Transformation Services to bring forward a report to Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee and Council that reviews the City’s Data Dissemination
Policy and makes recommendations to amend the Policy to allow for Open Access
to Public Data that will benefit the City and its citizens;
3. Direct the City Clerk to bring forward a proposal
for electronic agendas, as a recommended technology investment from the
Technology Investment Fund, to be included in the 2009 Capital Budget;
4. Direct that the Mid-Term Governance Review include
an option for the establishment of a committee or subcommittee of Council to
review the potential for large-scale investments in information technology and
make recommendations to City Council on those investments; and
5. Direct the City Manager to bring forward to the
October 21, 2008 meeting of the CSEDC Committee a report on the establishment
of the position of Chief Technology Advisor indicating the term, mandate and
proposed budget for approval at that time.
RecommandationS du comité
Que le Conseil :
1. Donne
instruction au personnel de déterminer si des évaluations stratégiques dans la
technologie sont justifiés pour ce qui concerne ses activités courantes, et que
chaque rapport à un comité ou au Conseil comporte une évaluation et une analyse
de rentabilité de la technologie s’il y a lieu, de façon que le Conseil ait le
plus de renseignements possible au sujet d’éventuels investissements dans la
technologie pour améliorer les services fournis aux citoyens;
2. Donne
instruction au directeur exécutif des Services de transformation des activités
de soumettre au Comité des services organisationnels et du développement
économique et au Conseil un rapport examinant la politique de la Ville sur la
diffusion de données et contenant des recommandations sur les améliorations à
apporter pour permettre le libre accès aux données publiques dans l’intérêt de
la Ville et de ses citoyens;
3. Donne
instruction au greffier de la Ville de soumettre une proposition d’ordres du
jour électroniques en tant qu’investissement dans la technologie recommandé
devant être fait à même le Fonds d’investissement dans la technologie et être
inclus dans le budget des immobilisations de 2009;
4. Exige
que l’examen de mi-mandat sur la gouvernance prévoie la formation éventuelle d’un
comité ou d’un sous-comité du Conseil qui aurait pour mandat d’examiner la
possibilité d’effectuer des investissements de grande ampleur dans la
technologie de l’information et de formuler des recommandations au Conseil au
sujet de ces investissements; et
5. Donne
instruction au directeur municipal de déposer à la réunion du 21 octobre 2008
du Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique un
rapport sur la création du poste de conseiller principal en technologie qui
préciserait le mandat et la durée de ce poste ainsi que le budget proposé.
Documentation
1.
Committee Coordinator’s report dated 5 August 2008 (ACS2007-CMR-CSE-0034).
2. Extract
of Draft Minutes, 19 August 2008
Report to /
Rapport au:
Corporate Services and Economic Development
Committee
Comité des services organisationnels et du
développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
5 August 2008 / le 5 août 2008
Coordonnateur de comité
|
city-wide / À l’Échelle de la ville |
Ref N°: ACS2007-CMR-CSE-0034 |
SUBJECT: report
from the Mayor’s e-governance task force
OBJET:
RAPPORT DU
GROUPE DE TRAVAIL DU MAIRE SUR LA CYBERADMINISTRATION
That the report from the Mayor’s E-Governance
Task Force be received and considered by the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee and Council.
Que le Comité des services organisationnels et du
développement économique et le Conseil prennent connaissance du rapport du
Groupe de travail du maire sur la cyberadministration et qu’ils l’examinent.
CONSULTATION
This item will be advertised in the local dailies as part
of the Public Meeting Advertisement on Friday preceding the Committee meeting.
SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTATION
Document 1: Report
from the Mayor’s Task Force, issued previously to all members of Council and
held on file with the City Clerk
Staff to
implement Council’s decision(s) / direction(s).
report from the Mayor’s e-governance
task force
RAPPORT DU GROUPE DE TRAVAIL DU MAIRE SUR LA
CYBERADMINISTRATION
ACS2008-CMR-CSE-0034
city-wide / À l’Échelle de la ville
Mr. Rob Collins, Chair of the
Mayor’s E-Governance Task Force, began by recognizing the Task Force’s members. He then spoke to
a detailed presentation, which served to provide Committee with an overview of
the group’s report and its recommendations. A copy of this presentation
is held on file with the City Clerk.
Mayor O’Brien took the opportunity
to thank the individual members of the task force for the time and resources
they contributed to this project: Mr. Collins, Dr. Gerald Grant, Kelly
Kubrick, Andrew Moffatt, Ben Robitaille, Ed
Shepherdson, Robert Thomson and Michael Turner.
Following his presentation, Mr.
Collins responded to questions from Committee members.
Councillor El-Chantiry
felt this issue came back to how government works versus how the private sector
works. He referenced the on-going prioritizing with respect to municipal
funding, the return on investment in terms of technology spending and the fact
that residents tended to respond more to what they could see rather than what
they could not; whether their roads were ploughed and potholes were
fixed. Mr. Collins began by submitted that people do see technology, or
lack of it, particularly in a community such as Ottawa where many people were
tech-savvy. Having said that, he suggested a number of things could be
done to bring technology to the forefront. He referenced examples of
areas where the City could technology could be used to simply and improve
residents’ interactions with the municipality, such as making it possible for
people to buy their dog licenses online. He submitted that for every
technology investment, there should be a business case put forward, including
an analysis of the return on investment. However, he cautioned that money
was not the measure for everything. For example, if someone could
recommend a way of improving ambulance response times, Council would likely
jump on it, though the return may not necessarily be measurable in
dollars. With respect to communicating with residents about technology
investments, he felt it was important to involve the community in those
discussions in terms of developing relationships with
the companies and the professionals in the Ottawa-area who are tech-savvy.
Responding to follow-up questions
from the Councillor, Mr. Collins recognized that because of the City’s size and
geography, not everyone would have the same access to technology or want to
conduct their transactions online. However, he submitted that by enabling
a large number of residents (those who did have access to technology and a
desire to conduct business online) to do so, staff time would be freed up in
order to better serve those residents who walked into the Client Services
Centres and needed a different level of service. With respect to funding
technology investments, Mr. Collins submitted this struggle was the same in
every organization; whether public or private. He maintained the
importance of recognizing that when an organization implemented technology,
there were maintenance costs involved. Again, he suggested that
businesses cases coming forward for technology investments should include
maintenance costs over that period and these should be considered as part of
the investment. He indicated the flip side of this was that there should
always be an effort within the IT organization to look for ways to drive down
those costs and he felt the City’s IT branch had done a good job in this
regard.
In reply to a final question from
Councillor El-Chantiry with respect to recommendation
8 of the Task Force report, Mr. Collins clarified the intended role of a Chief
Strategist was not to work with the IT group but rather to work with the other
groups within the City and with Council to make a technology improvement and
benefit cycle part of the City’s culture.
Councillor Desroches referenced the
need for proper business cases with respect to technology investments and he
wondered, based on the Task Force’s analysis, whether the City was well
equipped to provide this kind of assessment. Mr. Collins believed the
expertise existed at the branch and IT levels and he submitted this aspect was
not about the technology, it was about taking a fiscal and business approach to
investments.
In response to a follow-up question
from Councillor Desroches, Mr. Collins acknowledged the importance of investing
in staff training and suggested this tended to be an issue in most
organizations. However, he submitted that if the focus was on a
citizen-centric approach, the need for staff training would be minimal because
processes would be fairly intuitive. Having said that, he recommended
that training costs also be incorporated into any
business case coming forward with respect to technology investments.
Responding to a question from
Councillor Deans, Mr. Collins was reluctant to put any numbers on the table
with respect to how much the City should be investing in technology because
members of Council were the ones accountable to residents, not himself.
Therefore, he felt it was not his place. However, he recommended taking a
strategic approach. In order to get the cultural change he referenced
earlier, he suggested starting with some small investments and building on
those successes. As an example, he referenced the Mayor’s proposal about
paperless Council. He felt this would be a good starting point because it
was not a huge investment, it would not be disruptive, yet it would have a
clear return on investment. Having said that, he suggested that at the
same time the City was undertaking small investments across various areas, it
should also tackle one larger project.
In reply to follow-up questions from
the Councillor with respect to e-commerce opportunities, Mr. Collins submitted
that if the Council made it easier for residents to give the City money, people
would be more likely to do it. He pointed to his earlier example of being
able to buy a dog license online and suggested that such initiatives would
improve accounts receivable issues. He noted that the Library had been
successful in this area and could be used as an example. With respect to
opportunities for revenue generation, he acknowledged that if the City’s
website became a place where people wanted to go,
there could be some opportunities for selling advertising on the site.
Councillor Deans’ final question
related to references made in the Task Force report with respect to successes
in other jurisdictions. Mr. Collins directed members to the report for
more information. However, he pointed to the websites of the City of New
York as well as Aurora, Colorado. He discussed how these were laid out,
how they functioned and why they had been chosen as examples.
Mr. Collins responded to a question
from Councillor Wilkinson with respect to the notion of crossing silos.
He indicated this was straightforward in terms of identifying issues where
there should be crossover. However, he cautioned it was not
straightforward in that it affected people and how they valued themselves and
their work.
Councillor Wilkinson posed a series
of questions with respect to recommendation 8 of the Task Force report.
Mr. Collins did not envision that the position would require support
staff. He felt it needed to be an individual working at the high-level of
the City, from branch managers up, to be facilitator and trainer. As an
example, he referenced Mr. Plamondon’s work on the
financial side. He did not think there should be a lot of cost around it
outside of the individual. He recommended having someone for two years
but suggested Council periodically review the effectiveness and need for
it.
Councillor Wilkinson referenced a
number of motions that had been circulated, one of which directed that all
reports coming forward to Committee and Council include an assessment of the
business case for strategic investments in technology. She questioned
this interpretation of the Task Force’s recommendation and suggested that for
some reports, it would not make sense to include such an analysis.
Councillor Chiarelli
suggested it was always easier to say no than to move forward with new
initiatives and new technologies. He wondered how the City could build
into its processes an analysis of the cost of not moving forward. Mr.
Collins recommended judging everything the City does by a standard set of
metrics so that, in dealing with a problem, “no” would become a bad
answer. He also suggested considering risk as part of an investment
proposal; the risk of moving forward versus the risk of doing nothing.
Responding to a follow-up question,
Mr. Collins noted other organizations were already dealing with liability
issues with respect to doing business online. Therefore, he suggested
that the City learn from them and not re-invent the wheel.
Councillor Bloess
inquired about the Halton example of a successful
3-1-1 system and how the City of Ottawa could move forward in this
regard. Mr. Collins recommended providing a means for people to
self-serve through the 3-1-1 system as well as integrating it with other
systems within the City so that 3-1-1 staff might be able to better serve callers.
Further, he suggested that there may be opportunities to partner with other
jurisdictions in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec whereby these would use
Ottawa’s service and in return, help defray the costs.
Councillor Cullen requested a staff
response with respect to the Task Force recommendations. Mr. Kent
Kirkpatrick, City Manager, indicated the report had been the subject of
extensive discussion by staff. Further, he advised staff had been heavily
consulted and that he had provided input into the report. Directionally,
he believed the recommendations were correct. He indicated that he
supported them and would like to see them adopted by Council and
implemented. He believed there was evidence that the City was already
moving forward in many of the areas identified by the Task Force.
However, he thought the Task Force was recommending that there be a higher
order effort and a higher quantum investment; a recommendation with which he
agreed.
At this juncture, Committee dealt
with the following motions.
Moved by Councillor G. Brooks
Whereas the Mayor’s Task Force on eGovernment has recommended that responsibility for
technology investments must begin at the political level, as Council’s key
accountability is to establish policies and mandates for strategic investments
in information technology; and
Whereas the Task Force calls for
“the establishment of a committee or subcommittee that will advise council on
large-scale investments in information technology and ensure that appropriate
consultation with stakeholders occurs. For example, this group could provide
guidance to Council on issues such as reducing the need for additional staff by
applying technology or mandating the automation of workflow for new businesses
dealing with the city” (Ref. Mayor’s Task Force Report pg. 19)
Therefore Be It Resolved That an
option for the establishment of a committee or subcommittee of Council that
reviews the potential for large-scale investments in information technology and
makes recommendations to City Council on those investments be included in the
Mid-Term Governance Review.
CARRIED
Councillor Bloess
introduced a motion calling on Council to direct staff to include a technology
assessment and business case in reports coming forward to Committee and
Council.
A brief discussion ensued with
respect to having such a component in all reports as opposed to only those
where such an assessment would be appropriate. Councillor Bloess amended the motion to add the words “where
relevant”. Committee voted on the revised motion.
Moved by Councillor R. Bloess
Whereas new technologies are being
developed every day to improve how services are delivered; and
Whereas City Council has already
identified that it wants to see technology used to improve efficiency (through
initiatives like the Integrated Business Systems program) and improve services
to citizens (as with the On-line Development Application System-check); and
Whereas City staff are not directed
by Council to seek out new technologies when developing or changing programs
and services; and
Whereas the Mayor’s E-Government
Task Force has recommended that,
“All plans for changes or additions
to any city service put forward by branches should include a technology
component or alternative. Each Branch must be responsible for identifying these
investments with the support of Information Technology Services. These plans should
be identified as potential investments with identified returns”; (Ref. Mayor’s Task Force Report Pg
13)
Therefore Be It Resolved That
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that Council
direct staff to assess the business case for strategic investments in
technology in their day-to-day operations, and that a technology assessment and
business case be included in every Committee and Council report, where
relevant, so that Council has as much information as possible regarding the
potential for technology investments to improve service to citizens.
CARRIED
Moved by Councillor S. Desroches
Whereas the City of Ottawa is known
as the technology capital of Canada; and
Whereas many citizens of Ottawa are
both technologically skilled and involved in the community; and
Whereas the Mayor’s E-Government
Task Force has recommended that,
“Rather than build a full solution
in-house, it may be more practical, cost effective and powerful for the city to
provide common infrastructure and allow other groups to build, populate or
maintain an application. Given the plethora of talented technologists in Ottawa,
it requires little imagination to allow groups, like sports associations, to do
much of the work if the city will cover the costs of infrastructure. This
combines the city’s economies of scale with the nimble initiative of user
communities”; (Ref. Mayor’s Task Force Report Pg 16)
And Whereas Open Access to Public
Data could lead to the cost-effective development of community- and
user-friendly applications for City information;
Therefore Be It Resolved That
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that Council
direct the Executive Director of Business Transformation Services to bring
forward a report to Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee and
Council that reviews the City’s Data Dissemination Policy and makes recommendations
to amend the Policy to allow for Open Access to Public Data that will benefit
the City and its citizens.
CARRIED
Responding to questions from
Councillors El-Chantiry and Wilkinson with respect to
the motion, Mr. Steve Finnamore, Executive Director
of Business Transformation Services, discussed how such a review would be
approached and the work that would need to go into it. He noted that it was
a fairly significant task, but one he felt was worthwhile. In terms of
timing, he indicated he was not in a position to state when the report would be
ready, though staff would work on it in the next couple of months and bring
forward interim reports as needed.
At this juncture, Mayor O’Brien
ceded the Chair to Councillor Desroches. He then introduced the following
motions and spoke to them briefly.
Moved by Mayor L. O’Brien
Whereas driving meaningful
technological change must begin at the top, and
Whereas the current, paper-based
Committee and Council Agenda and Report process uses about 2.8 million pages a
year, costing over $150,000 and over 230 trees; and
Whereas there is an opportunity for
the Mayor and City Council to take the lead in reducing costs and benefiting
the environment adopting an electronic agenda solution and moving towards
paperless Committee and Council meetings; and
Whereas staff estimates that the
initial investment in technology will yield over $50,000 in savings (the
equivalent of 80 trees) in the first full year of implementation, and the
investment is expected to pay for itself within 2 years;
Therefore Be It Resolved That the
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that Council
direct the City Clerk to bring forward a proposal for electronic agendas, as a
recommended technology investment from the Technology Investment Fund, to be
included in the 2009 Capital Budget.
CARRIED
Moved by Mayor L. O’Brien
Whereas the Mayor’s E-Government
Task Force has recommended that,
“The use of information technology
offers the potential to transform the City of Ottawa and break the cycle of
increasing budgets and reducing service. But this can only be achieved if the
City of Ottawa implements a system of governance that recognizes and assures
that information technology is applied in a strategic and accountable manner
across all city endeavours. This will involve everyone — from city Councillors
to individual city employees — and give them an appropriate voice in the
process, clear direction, defined measurements and a process to manage change
as it occurs”; (Ref Mayor’s Task Force Report Pg 18.)
Therefore Be it Resolved that That
the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that
Council direct the City Manager to bring forward to the October 21, 2008 meeting
of the CSEDC Committee a report on the establishment of the position of Chief
Technology Advisor indicating the term, mandate and proposed budget for
approval at that time.
CARRIED
Responding to questions on the last
motion, Mr. Kirkpatrick indicated the timelines were adequate. With
respect to the report he would bring forward in the fall, he confirmed that
Council would have the option of referring it to the budget process in terms of
funding the position.
Mayor O’Brien clarified that the
intent was to provide Council with outside expertise to give guidance and
advice.
In reply to follow-up questions, Mr.
Kirkpatrick indicated his interpretation of the Task Force recommendation and
the Mayor’s motion related to a need for an external perspective, not only on
technology issues but also on how technology could enable service improvements,
productivity gains and cultural change. He confirmed his report would
discuss the reporting mechanisms. In this regard, he asked for latitude
to adjust the date so that it synchronized with the mid-term governance report.
In closing, Councillor Bloess inquired about the ability to identify which
residents should get correspondence from the City in English and who should
receive it in French in order to cut back on printing and mailing costs.
Ms. Marian Simulik, City Treasurer, advised staff had looked at this issue in
the past and discovered that the cost was prohibitive therefore, a bilingual
format had been deemed easier. However, she indicated it could be looked
at again since the technology may have improved.
Following these exchanges, Committee
voted on the item as amended.
1. Whereas
new technologies are being developed every day to improve how services are
delivered; and
Whereas City Council has already
identified that it wants to see technology used to improve efficiency (through initiatives
like the Integrated Business Systems program) and improve services to citizens
(as with the On-line Development Application System-check); and
Whereas City staff are not directed
by Council to seek out new technologies when developing or changing programs
and services; and
Whereas the Mayor’s E-Government
Task Force has recommended that,
“All plans for changes or additions
to any city service put forward by branches should include a technology
component or alternative. Each Branch must be responsible for identifying these
investments with the support of Information Technology Services. These plans
should be identified as potential investments with identified returns”; (Ref. Mayor’s Task Force Report Pg
13)
Therefore Be It Resolved That Corporate
Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that Council direct staff
to assess the business case for strategic investments in technology in their
day-to-day operations, and that a technology assessment and business case be
included in every Committee and Council report, where relevant, so that Council
has as much information as possible regarding the potential for technology
investments to improve service to citizens.
2. Whereas
the City of Ottawa is known as the technology capital of Canada; and
Whereas many citizens of Ottawa are
both technologically skilled and involved in the community; and
Whereas the Mayor’s E-Government
Task Force has recommended that,
“Rather than build a full solution
in-house, it may be more practical, cost effective and powerful for the city to
provide common infrastructure and allow other groups to build, populate or
maintain an application. Given the plethora of talented technologists in Ottawa,
it requires little imagination to allow groups, like sports associations, to do
much of the work if the city will cover the costs of infrastructure. This
combines the city’s economies of scale with the nimble initiative of user
communities”; (Ref. Mayor’s Task Force Report Pg 16)
And Whereas Open Access to Public
Data could lead to the cost-effective development of community- and
user-friendly applications for City information;
Therefore Be It Resolved That
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that Council
direct the Executive Director of Business Transformation Services to bring
forward a report to Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee and
Council that reviews the City’s Data Dissemination Policy and makes
recommendations to amend the Policy to allow for Open Access to Public Data
that will benefit the City and its citizens.
3. Whereas
driving meaningful technological change must begin at the top, and
Whereas the current, paper-based
Committee and Council Agenda and Report process uses about 2.8 million pages a
year, costing over $150,000 and over 230 trees; and
Whereas there is an opportunity for
the Mayor and City Council to take the lead in reducing costs and benefiting
the environment adopting an electronic agenda solution and moving towards
paperless Committee and Council meetings; and
Whereas staff estimates that the
initial investment in technology will yield over $50,000 in savings (the
equivalent of 80 trees) in the first full year of implementation, and the
investment is expected to pay for itself within 2 years;
Therefore Be It Resolved That the
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that Council
direct the City Clerk to bring forward a proposal for electronic agendas, as a
recommended technology investment from the Technology Investment Fund, to be
included in the 2009 Capital Budget.
4. Whereas
the Mayor’s Task Force on eGovernment has recommended
that responsibility for technology investments must begin at the political
level, as Council’s key accountability is to establish policies and mandates
for strategic investments in information technology; and
Whereas the Task Force calls for
“the establishment of a committee or subcommittee that will advise council on
large-scale investments in information technology and ensure that appropriate
consultation with stakeholders occurs. For example, this group could provide
guidance to Council on issues such as reducing the need for additional staff by
applying technology or mandating the automation of workflow for new businesses
dealing with the city” (Ref. Mayor’s Task Force Report pg. 19)
Therefore Be It Resolved That an
option for the establishment of a committee or subcommittee of Council that
reviews the potential for large-scale investments in information technology and
makes recommendations to City Council on those investments be included in the
Mid-Term Governance Review.
5. Whereas
the Mayor’s E-Government Task Force has recommended that,
“The use of information technology
offers the potential to transform the City of Ottawa and break the cycle of
increasing budgets and reducing service. But this can only be achieved if the
City of Ottawa implements a system of governance that recognizes and assures
that information technology is applied in a strategic and accountable manner
across all city endeavours. This will involve everyone — from city Councillors
to individual city employees — and give them an appropriate voice in the
process, clear direction, defined measurements and a process to manage change
as it occurs”; (Ref Mayor’s Task Force Report Pg 18.)
Therefore Be it Resolved that That
the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that
Council direct the City Manager to bring forward to the October 21, 2008
meeting of the CSEDC Committee a report on the establishment of the position of
Chief Technology Advisor indicating the term, mandate and proposed budget for approval
at that time.
CARRIED as amended