George Town in Northern Tasmania to implement Civica’s Authority
George Town Council, in Northern Tasmania, has chosen to implement Civica’s Authority enterprise local government management solution to eliminate the duplication of effort arising from existing stand-alone systems.
Having a single integrated enterprise solution rather than five or six separate applications could save staff days or even weeks of work every year, according to Kim Barker, Manager Corporate Services.
He says George Town sought a single solution because its existing computer setup is inefficient, and systems management have become “problematic.” It was felt that a single solution from a single provider would make life much easier for management.
“As well as saving time and effort, Authority will cut down significant duplication of information in our database, and eliminate the need to duplicate transactions to get results,” said Kim.
Having decided to seek a single solution, Council invested considerable time evaluating available options. On their wish-list was a solution that was already working in Tasmania’s local government environment, because the state’s legislation differs from others. George Town also required that software modules in the solution they chose were currently in use by other Councils.
After eliminating a number of suppliers, Council called for demonstrations from Civica and one competing supplier. A wide range of management and key staff attended, representing all areas of Council operations.
“Everyone did their own assessment and finally I looked into the costings. When we reached a consensus, a big majority went for Civica because of its extensive integration, wide range of modules, and cost-effectiveness,” said Kim Barker.
Authority’s core applications are due to go live in April 2008. Council has also bought licences for Authority e-Services and Asset & Infrastructure Management (AIM), and implementation of those applications will begin once staff are thoroughly familiar with using the new software.
Kim says: “When the system is operational, it will be easier to view the information we need, as the relevant data will be in one place rather than five or six. Authority’s top-down view achieves this easily, and that will be the biggest benefit.”
He says that managing a single product, talking to one supplier, and having most people in the organisation using the same software with a single look and feel throughout the range of applications, will yield significant benefits.
Council’s staff are looking forward to using Authority’s Excel Report Writer, which Kim Barker says has more advanced reporting capabilities than anything in use at present. Job costing, too, will be easier, giving more capability with work orders.
George Town Council expects a steady population growth resulting from new projects in the municipality’s deep water port of Bell Bay and other coastal areas. Currently there are plans to build a $1.4 billion pulp mill. In addition, Alinta is developing a $250 million power station, and there are a number of tourist developments planned or under construction in the municipality. With accompanying spin-off developments, Council is anticipating an increasing workload. Over 200 residential blocks are subdivided and ready to go, and there are more in the pipeline.
Kim Barker is confident that Council’s partnership with Civica will enable the organisation to cope efficiently with growth for many years to come.
Situated at the mouth of the Tamar River and bordering Bass Strait, George Town offers visitors the opportunity to experience gourmet food and wine, historic buildings, beautiful scenery, unique wildlife and a range of activities to suit the whole family. Panoramic views of the peninsula, Tamar Valley, estuary, surf and river beaches. In 2004 George Town commemorated 200 years since European settlement. George Town’s population tops 6,600 and the municipality covers 649 sq km.