Important Requirements for the Digital Transformation of a City
- Elijah Raji
- August 16, 2019October 02, 2018
Digital Transformation is coming to local communities all across Canada and it’s important not to be left behind.
To provide local services that improve the lives of local and regional stakeholders, communities are undertaking digital transformations to take advantage of new technologies.
Some great examples of this are Squamish’s Official Community Dashboard and the Sidewalk Labs Project in Toronto. Each of these projects show how digital transformation is being used by CAOs to improve community services across the board.
The main requirements for successful digital transformation are:Solid Data, Accessibility and User Friendliness.
Solid Data
All digital transformation needs properly sourced data to help stakeholders gain a clear understanding of the current state of affairs. This gives your transformation credibility and ensures honest conversations regarding progress and strategy in a local community. The Squamish Official Community Dashboard built by Townfolio is based on data generated by core services performed by local government officials in Squamish. The datasets are automatically reflected to the dashboard to ensure transparency and trust which leads to successful service outcomes.
Accessibility
To ensure that community members are able to engage in your digital transformation, it is important to make your services accessible. For example, a major feature of the Sidewalk Labs Project in Toronto was consistent free WiFi in the project area. This has ensured that the citizens of Toronto are constantly connected to other technologies and services available in the area. This kind of accessibility democratizes access to local services and ensures maximum impact on the community.
User-Freindly
Any community digital transformation that isn’t user friendly is a waste of resources. The most important requirement for any digital transformation is that the community can use these new tools effectively to serve their community needs. The Sidewalk Labs Toronto Project encompasses bike sharing and smart containers which are all accessible through an app available on Android and iOS ensuring that all members of the community have access to each of these services to help them through day to day life.
Conclusion
Many communities believe that digital transformations are easy and simple, but that is not the case. A digital transformation requires solid data output, accessibility and user-friendliness. A city is not smart because it is technologically advanced. A city is smart because it uses technology to improve its community. If you are interested in learning how digital transformation can help your community, please reach out to Shawn Setyo.