Jump in councils ready to invest in technology

Local governments are likely to invest more in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technologies than ever before in 2023 based on new research from peak body Local Government Professionals Australia and enterprise solution provider TechnologyOne.

For the second year running the two organisations have surveyed more than a fifth of Australia’s 537 metropolitan, regional and rural councils to benchmark their progress on digital transformation, which has accelerated dramatically since COVID-19.

According to the 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index, released this month, the proportion of Australian councils that have a defined SaaS migration strategy almost tripled in a year to 37%, up from 13% in 2021.

More than half of the councils surveyed have a digital transformation vision but are still in the early stages of executing it, suggesting investments in SaaS will increase over the next 12–24 months.

This mirrors research data released by industry analysts Gartner this month, which predicts global enterprise spending on cloud-related technologies will accelerate to 20.7% per annum next year to reach a total of US$490.30 billion.

“In the wake of the sudden digital acceleration prompted by the pandemic, customer expectations and community demand also evolved to be digital-first. Now that digital services are becoming the norm, councils are looking to capitalise on the momentum and digitise even more of their operations,” said Jonathan Throssell, president of LG Professionals Australia.

Wollongong City Council, named a “best-in-class” local government in the report, has used SaaS technologies to mobilise its workforce, improve business intelligence and focus on service delivery, said Ingrid McAlpin, its Chief Information Officer.

“Bringing together our outdoor workforce was the biggest achievement. We’re a large council with multiple community facilities, pools, playgrounds, parks and sporting grounds. We have a $115.8 million capital works program and conduct 8.8 million waste bin collections. We wanted a mobile workforce and that was certainly something that came about with the implementation of TechnologyOne’s SaaS platform,” McAplin said.

“Rather than going back to the depot to pick up a piece of paper, and then go back out in the truck, they’re working in real time, so it’s been a huge change to the way we do business. Our outdoor workers are quite mobile now and this all happened in the middle of the pandemic.”

Digital transformation’s move to the top of the agenda is driven by a few factors, according to Peter Suchting, General Manager for Local Government at TechnologyOne.

“Post-pandemic, councils are facing a combination of old and new challenges. Community expectations of councils are increasing and many services are coming under pressure from population shifts driven by the pandemic. At the same time, councils are also setting higher bars for themselves in terms of service delivery,” Suchting said.

According to the report, the biggest external challenge is staff shortages, which are having an even greater impact on councils than COVID, funding pressures or natural disasters. Ninety-three per cent of councils are finding skills shortages extremely, very or quite challenging.

LG Professionals Australia sees an increasing need for a dedicated digital transformation leadership role within more councils.

“While most council leaders understand the importance of digital transformation, the reality is that adequate funding, resources and skilled talent are not easy to procure. As the scope of their digital transformation grows, the lack of a dedicated digital leader within the council to manage the complexity of transformation is also being felt more acutely,” Throssell said.

“Without a digital leader or transformation partner, councils may forge ahead without a well-considered digital strategy, which could lead to inefficient spending, cost blowouts and sub-par delivery outcomes. In addition, councils miss out on the ability to derive data-backed insights on community needs and improve their responses to the community.”

The 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index is available for download here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Rana Hamid