Smart city solutions begin with city departments’ innovation

For any community, each of the departments within the community supports multiple unique lines of business. Project volume and an ongoing need to keep pace with evolving technology is a constant challenge, not to mention the continual pressure to respond to the ever-growing demands of the end user, the consumer. The ability to harness technology, process improvement, and project management skills is no longer a luxury to be researched and implemented in good time.

The city departments’ organizations already have their hands full with day-to-day activities and engaging a trusted partner to guide and manage the process to integrate new methods, technology, and processes will ensure the path is clear and the journey successful. A defined plan toward specific goals can be dovetailed into current activities such that significant technical progression can be achieved with minimal disruption. With this objective completed, this knowledgeable partner can then take on the activities involved with support service. Working with technology partners to provide support services presents an opportunity for valuable existing staff to concentrate on business initiatives that drive the organization forward.

Once support service tasks are offloaded, data gathering and integration into a cohesive plan from the activities must be addressed. A key point to integrate data as a competitive edge is development of the customer experience. Regardless of how customers connect with your organization, gathering the data around these experiences, enhancing all the touchpoints encountered and exploiting automation and mobility tools help to drive operational efficiencies.

Success in this area is dependent on paying close attention to the pulse of the customer, anticipating their needs and consistent tactical adjustments to respond. Verifying the updated tactical plan assists in adjustment of the strategy and positions you for staying on track to achieve goals.

All of this to say that today’s technologies are driving massing amounts of data that must be scoured and reviewed to glean specific kernels of information revealing trends. By understanding the technology and decoding the message the data is sending, a specific roadmap to solving problems can be outlined. Clearly this type of function points to the evolution of each of city departments’ group from a support organization to a business enablement partner. The ability of the discrete departments to understand the bigger picture of the solutions provided as it relates to community function is an important role in driving efficiency, innovation, and service.

Once the metamorphosis from support organization to business enablement partner has been made internally, the engagement and partnership with a managed services team and technology advancement business partner can be fully employed as a progression. Building on achievements, attacking issues one win at a time positions you for the next one and the next one. Through continued delivery and responsiveness, the business needs of the city, creating a smart city environment flows organically and is no longer a colossal task but a tried-and-true roadmap to success.

In the meantime, stay committed to adding tools to your toolbox in the following areas:

• Building a great culture for you employees
• Maintaining effective communication throughout the organization
• Sustaining a team of people who complement each other and are dedicated to the organization
• Delivering quality services to internal and external customers

Be a trusted business partner to all stakeholders and customers by honing these skills and continuing to drive value to the business. Then seek out dependable, knowledgeable industry-seasoned implementation and managed services resource partners to expand your arsenal and take the next steps.

ABOUT ESC PARTNERS:

ESC Partners is building smarter cities from utilities work to public works with solutions in the Oracle Cloud. Let us help you take full advantage of all the Oracle SaaS options available or walk you through our personalized Care-as-a-Service (CaaS) solutions. Just send us a note via the contact form, and we'll circle back within 48 hours.