KEY POINTS:
Do you get frustrated at the local authority services you can and can't access online? So does the organisation whose mission is to foster council adoption of online services, Local Government Online, or LGOL.
Councils should start to "walk the talk" on delivery of e-services, says LGOL chairman Rod Titcombe, himself a council chief executive. He cites research released last year that found only 15 per cent of councils have formal strategies to build e-government services.
"The lack of planning means actual delivery of web-based services by councils is very low," he says.
Despite LGOL being a commercial entity - its shareholders are the Society of Local Government Managers, Local Government New Zealand, local authority-owned insurer Civic Assurance and the Association of Local Government Information Management (ALGIM) - Titcombe's impatience isn't profit-driven.
On the contrary, it is missed savings that motivate him to speak out. The public like online transactions, web-based services are a money-saver (cutting photocopying, postage, double-handling and processing costs), yet, to his puzzlement, not even a 10th of councils let ratepayers do something so simple as track the progress of a building consent application online.
Titcombe doesn't hold up the middle-sized council he heads, Manawatu District, as a paragon.
"We've still got a way to go in a number of areas. It does require some investment and we're working our way towards it."
Provision of online services is "at the forefront" of an overall review of the council's information systems. "It's pretty early days for us yet."
In contrast, Hurunui District Council ratepayers in the North Canterbury resort of Hanmer Springs can request a land information memorandum (LIM) fully online, which council staff process digitally.
"It takes two days less than doing it the old way, a great time-saver for people trying to buy a house."
Hurunui is using GoForms software written and hosted by Auckland company Ubiquity. It's not exactly complicated or costly for councils to adopt.
Instead of potentially expensive integration with council administrative systems, the software works by automatically emailing forms filed by ratepayers to the relevant council staff, at a cost of about 40c a transaction.
Freshly arrived forms, which are saved as Adobe .pdf files, are marked "Processing" until a council officer has determined their fate. Their status is then changed to "Approved", "Declined" or "Withdrawn", and the ratepayer notified accordingly by email. The electronic form is then stored in the council's document management system.
Why aren't councils flocking to it? Jim Higgins, LGOL's chief executive, says it seems to be a case of having promoted the benefits to the wrong people.
Councils have for years been earnestly discussing making services available electronically, but in most instances that merely means putting forms online for ratepayers to download, print, complete and mail or fax back.
"That's not e-government; it's not interacting with councils online," says Higgins, whose local authority IT experience stretches back to the 1970s, when he helped Palmerston North City Council computerise its billing.
In trying to get councils to take the extra step of making the whole form-filling process digital, LGOL has been talking to IT managers. But it now realises it's wasting its breath because IT managers are unaware there's an issue that needs resolving.
"We're now beginning to talk to the people with the problem - planners, for example. The saving in time we've discovered just on [electronic filing of] LIM forms is at least two days."
When that message gets out, it sparks immediate interest. Councils have dozens of forms for the range of services they provide and GoForms can be used for any of them, Higgins says.
"The thing is not a super-giant complicated, all-singing, all-dancing defrost your fridge system.
"It's meant to be an efficient means of interacting with the public, allowing them to apply for LIMs or liquor licences or whatever it is without the council having to develop and integrate complex systems.
"For a small council, GoForms is perfect. It's great for people living in outlying districts - they can do all their business online, they don't have to come into town."
Large councils stand to make significant cost savings, Higgins says, while for smaller ones it can free up staff for other tasks.
If only they knew what they were missing out on.
"There are national organisations that have an interest. The legal fraternity, for example, has an interest in speeding up [delivery of] LIM reports so we've been talking to a few of those sorts of organisations.
"They've really just got to go and put pressure on councils."
We should all be wishing them luck.
Failing to connect
96 per cent of council CEOs and IT managers agree that technology is integral to the delivery of government information.
15 per cent of councils have formal strategies to build e-government services.
Source: Benchmarking NZ e-government survey
Anthony Doesburg is an Auckland-based technology journalist
