From typewriters to smart phones, technology has always played a vital role in the way local government manages its business. As councils face the twin challenges of decreasing funding and increasing demand, they have found new ways of utilising technology to deliver services more effectively and enable their staff work in new ways, increasing productivity and reducing costs.
Central government funding for councils will have been cut by 40 per cent over the period of this Parliament. Several studies anticipate that the spending cuts will continue until 2025. This comes at a time when the impact of the economic downturn, demographic change, major government initiatives new public health responsibilities, and fundamental changes to the local government finance system are compounding the pressures on councils.
Councils deliver a significant percentage of local public services, and are located in and form part of the communities they serve. They are rising to the challenges they face and transforming the way they deliver services by redesigning, reorganising and reforming. An important part of this process is bringing their deep understanding of local needs together with technological innovations to offer better management of demand, more reliable and efficient handling of routine transactions, and greater use of shared data.
Next Step Academy (NSA) offers high-quality digital transformation in government courses designed by experts such as Deon van der Westhuizen, Dirk Brand etc. Gain practical knowledge and skills in digital transformation.
