The benefits of moving your data online
Gone are the days when your staff want to do paperwork. Even more so, the existence of paper-based data information management makes budgets skyrocket and residents just plain frustrated. This became very evident during the pandemic, as many local governments scrambled to move services online. Migrating data online isn't a temporary solution, it's an expectation that is here for good.
Did you know over 189 billion dollars is being invested into smart cities across the globe? It’s important to understand the benefits your municipality can gain when you align with modern communities.
There are many benefits that organizations like yours can leverage as you continue moving data online. Consider these as milestones you can leverage to reach a more informed, transparent and engaged community.
Provide end-to-end user experience
The most important benefit of moving your data online is the impact it will have on your residents and business owners. Online data provides an end-to-end experience for all your online services and the information on your website.
With 63% of Canadian citizens who prefer to access city services online, residents expect information to be accessible online too. With cloud data, help shorten your users’ search journey and remove the need for resident to contact your customer service.
Increase transparency and engagement
While making your residents’ lives easier with online data, consider how it also increases transparency on what's happening in your community. It's an effective way to keep your residents informed and increase their trust with new government initiatives.
For example, residents and businesses want to know what's happening with new building projects, road construction, park developments or council meetings. Moving data online also gives your organization an online platform to gather feedback directly from residents, increasing their engagement.
Government data management for the digital age | McKinsey
Improve data governance
Moving your data to the cloud is a large undertaking for your government technology leaders. Yet, it can provide the security and protection your data needs. This modernized level of protection also has its complementary benefits. Help your government align with federal IT strategies, open data governance initiatives and comply with data policies.
When your organization can showcase this compliance and data stewardship, it promotes reliability and accountability for proper open data governance. Especially when it comes to sensitive data that residents and business owners input to complete your services. In turn, this increases trust from your residents and businesses, knowing their data is safe and secure.
Reduce human error and gain new skills
Another benefit of moving data online is one that impacts your internal processes and administrative staff. Online data provides new ways for your administrators to centralize your data, reduce repetition and human errors. For example, residents and business owners won't have to input information again and again for every form. Your admin staff will collect information more quickly and stop having to manually input data into systems.
There will be learning curves for adopting new cloud systems, but it will help your municipality reach your digital transformation goals.
Make data-driven decisions
When moving your data online, a longer-term benefit presents itself - the ability to make data-driven decisions.
With today’s digital demands, municipalities rely more and more on data intelligence methods. It improves your community’s mission, strengthen your council’s business decisions and gives residents more insight into your decisions.
As cloud based systems become more available, they become more tailored to supporting local governments needs and regulations. This digital advancement is also making it more affordable and accessible to smaller municipalities.
With these benefits, your municipality has an opportunity to align with your government's open data regulations and your overall community engagement. Whether your community has already begun your data migration or not, these benefits merit careful consideration.
Get started with Govstack and begin your journey to a more modern, engaged and connected community.