Latest Technologies for Local Government

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Latest Technologiesfor Local Government

• Coaching Programs
• September 19, 2007

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Coaching Program 9th year as member benefit
Career Development Committee
Coaching Program 4th year
Preparing the Next Generation Committee
CA City Mgmt. Foundation CA Communities
Joint Powers Authority Comcast CPS Human
Resources Intl City/County Mgmt. Assn.
Municipal Mgmt. Assn. of N. CA Municipal
Mgmt. Assn. of S. CA Bob Murray
Associates
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Overview of Session

• Leading edge practices John Kamensky
• Keys to implementation Kirk Biglione
• Opening government Laura Peabody
• Portals and easy sharing Kristy Schmidt
• Visualizing issues Jake Hudson
• Putting desktop tools to work Bill Statler

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Leading Edge Tools Used in the New Web 2.0 World

• Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0
• Shift from static web page to dynamic content,
  user generated. Allows creation of social
  networks.
• Adoption rate is strongly associated with the
  four generations in the workforce (and citizenry
  at large).
• Started as teen toys. Now are business tools.
  Pressure for government to adopt.

• The Web 2.0 world
• The Blogging Revolution
• The Use of Wikis
• The Rise of Second Life

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Blog Growth
See IBM-sponsored report http//www.businessofgov
ernment.org/events/blogging/
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Wikiality
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The Rise of User-Generated Media and Social
Networks

• Second Life a 3-D digital universe where users
  take on virtual identities (avatars) -- has over
  3.3 million members.
• 100 universities have built virtual campuses and
  hold classes there.

Second Life founder Philip Rosedale in person,
and in avatar form
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The Rise of User-Generated Media and Social
Networks

• The Virtual House of Representatives

• Moving to government
• Political candidates
• CDC, NOAA have
• presence
• Swedish embassy

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Use of External Blogs in Government

• Mostly among elected officials at this point
• Different approaches
• Personal Marcus Peacock, EPA Deputy
  Administrator
• http//www.epa.gov/flowoftheriver/
• City Managers Santa Paula and Ventura
• http//www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/sep/03/
  blazing-a-blogging-trail/
• Joint Los Angeles Police Department
• http//www.lapdblog.org/
• Spokesperson Los Angeles Fire Dept.
• http//lafd.blogspot.com/
• Even if choose to not blog, need to keep track of
  what others are saying about you

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Conversations Are Key

• Social media is a communications challenge, not a
  technology challenge.
• A new opportunity to engage constituents.
• Be prepared to engage in dialogues. Social media
  is interactive.
• Chances are your constituents already have blogs.
  It wont be long before theyre blogging about
  you.

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Monitor the Conversation

• Monitor social media the same way you would
  monitor traditional media.
• Resources
• Technorati www.technorati.com
• Google Blog Search www.blogsearch.google.com
• What to search for Agency name, key employees,
  key projects.

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RSS - Really Simple Syndication

• Allows readers to receive updates without
  visiting your blog or website.
• Can be used to syndicate content to related
  websites.
• Great tool for professional development.
• Look for the orange RSS icon
• Google Reader -- www.google.com/reader/

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Future Opportunities for Government

• Comments on new policy proposals coming before
  City Council
• Internal collaboration around drafting
  regulations
• Wikis across departments, by neighborhood service
  areas, with GIS maps
• New ways to demo educate public (e.g., new
  recycling procedures, emergency response)

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Using Technology to Open Government

• Streaming Video/Webcasts
• Audio/Podcasting
• RSS Feeds and Subscription Services

(Web) Streaming has matured and local
governments are now able to find a practical
application for it. Well Served American
Cities and Counties magazine, April 2007
http//americancityandcounty.com/technology/govern
ment_served/
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Convenient Access to Meetings
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Serve Information in Multiple Formats, Notify of
Updates
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Examples - Different Approaches

• City of Riverside
• http//209.128.123.170/ppportal/agenda/webcast.asp
  x
• City of Fairfield
• http//www.ci.fairfield.ca.us/councilvideoarchives
  _9410.htm
• City of Carlsbad
• http//ci.carlsbad.ca.us/chall/ccvideo.html

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One City, One Bookhttp//www.greensboro-nc.gov/de
partments/Library/OneBook/gsorem.htm
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Portal and Easy Sharing

• Case study Use of technology (Microsoft Office
  SharePoint Portal) in support of Succession
  Planning
• Consolidate internal and external resources
• Communicate with employees
• Supply documents electronically
• Provide collaborative work spaces
• Provide interactive experiences
• Allow on-demand access to video resources
• Live example of visiting the Santa Barbara
  Succession Planning site via gotomypc
  https//www.gotomypc.com/....

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Visualizing and Resolving Issues

• Example of a contentious road extension in San
  Luis Obispo.
• Tapping available technology tools and data.
• Helping the public and decision makers visualize
  impacts and reach decision.

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Putting Desktop Tools to Use

• Example of expediting internal work flow review
  and sign off on agenda reports.
• Tapping desktop tools.
• Helping shorten review cycles and enhance
  collaboration.

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E-Processing CAO ReportsUsing existing desktop
tools to improve productivity

• Background What are CAO Reports?
• The Problem
• The Solution
• The Results

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What are CAO Reports?

• The Council has delegated a wide range of
  authority to City staff.
• CAO Reports an internal process for obtaining and
  documenting City Manager approvals when required
  that ensures we perform the same due diligence
  and analysis as if we took the item to the
  Council for approval.
• Same report content, same review process as
  Council agenda reports
• Purchasing, budget amendments, contract awards,
  agreements, reorganizations, reclassifications

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The Problem

• Slow . . . . . Very Slow
• Even if all reviewers act within a day, it can
  take up to 2 weeks for final action
• Especially bad for outlying departments (and most
  are)
• Status
• Where is it? Unlike Council agenda reports, no
  one is looking for the report at the back-end
• Long Story Short Huge black hole potential
  (usually actualized)
• Non-collaborative No reviewer knows what others
  are thinking
• Leaves huge stream of consciousness
  reconciliation by Administration returns back to
  the department common
• Unsure follow-up action at the end

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The Solution

• Just use email and attachments (or better yet,
  links to attachments).
• In virtually all cases, documents are created
  electronically and where they arent, scanning
  can take care of 99.9 of the exceptions

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Concurrent Reviews

• Three Steps
• Concurrent Reviews of Draft e-CAO Report via
  email All But Administration
• Send with link rather than attachment in track
  change mode
• Administration Review of Final e-CAO Report
• Administration Action
• Hopefully this means approval, but . . . .

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Links Versus Attachments

• Benefits
• Collaborative revisions
• Version control
• Data management
• Downside
• Access Need to create and use shared folders or
  drives

• Inserting Links Three easy steps
• Click on Insert on the email tool bar
• Click on Hyperlink on drop-down menu
• Browse for file/folder location double-click or
  click Okay

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ResultsFaster, Better, Easy and Cheap

• Faster action (especially for departments outside
  of City Hall and most are)
• Two weeks is now two days in most cases
• Better tracking of the status of CAO Report its
  either in the concurrent stage or in
  Administration
• In short, no black holes more transparent
  process for everyone
• Better CAO Reports by providing better
  collaboration
• Facilitates intra-department review

• Avoids stream of consciousness post-it notes no
  reconciliation for Administration
• Forces initiating department to resolve issues
  before they get to Administration and take
  responsibility for the final product
• Improved sharing of information on the outcome of
  CAO Report actions
• Easy Uses familiar technology already in
  place and that most CAO Report preparers
  are already familiar with
• Cheap And because were using existing
  technology, no added costs

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Questions and Answers

• Go to web sites for recordings of this webinar
  and other professional development resources.
• www.cal-icma.org/coaching
• www.csmfo.org/coaching
• Please complete the follow up survey.

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Contacts for Todays Panelists

• John Kamensky, Senior Fellow, IBM Center for the
  Business of Government, john.kamensky_at_us.ibm.com
• Kirk Biglione, Web Master, Oxford Media Works,
  kirkb_at_oxfordmediaworks.com
• Laura Peabody, CIO, Walnut Creek,
  peabody_at_ci.walnut-creek.ca.us
• Kristy Schmidt, Employee Relations Manager, Santa
  Barbara, KSchmidt_at_SantaBarbaraCA.gov
• Jake Hudson, Engineer, Traffic Division, Public
  Works, San Luis Obispo, jhudson_at_slocity.org
• Bill Statler, Finance IT Director, San Luis
  Obispo, bstatler_at_slocity.org
• Don Maruska, Director, Cal-ICMA and CSMFO
  Coaching Programs, don_at_donmaruska.com