Digital Services Strategy

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In spring 2023, CMT approved the city's first ever digital strategy.

The project will now move toward implementation in 3 phases:

  • Exploring digital (2023-2024)
  • Designing digital (2024-2026)
  • Being digital (2027 and beyond)

To read the full strategy, visit the link in the Documents section or read the post below.


In spring 2023, CMT approved the city's first ever digital strategy.

The project will now move toward implementation in 3 phases:

  • Exploring digital (2023-2024)
  • Designing digital (2024-2026)
  • Being digital (2027 and beyond)

To read the full strategy, visit the link in the Documents section or read the post below.

  • Read the final strategy document

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    The final strategy had been approved by CMT and is now moving toward implementation. More updates will follow on Jostle and in other forums.

    Read the final strategy here.

  • Watch the 'Ask us Anything' session

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    On November 30 we held an online event to provide an update on the Digital Service Strategy and invite attendees to 'Ask us Anything' about it.

    We got some great questions and had a great time sharing our work with staff. We plan to hold more of these as progress continues. Thanks to all who participated!

    Go to Vimeo to watch the recording of the event.

  • Join us for an 'Ask Us Anything' session

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    With the initial ‘discovery’ phase of the digital strategy complete, join the project team as they share:

    • important insights and opportunities we’ve uncovered
    • the most challenging questions we’ve heard so far
    • what’s coming next!


    Along the way the team will also share case studies from other cities and promising digital work already underway at the city. Finally they will open the floor to questions from the audience, either submitted in advance or taken live at the event.

    The session will take place online on Wednesday November 30, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. It will be recorded for anyone not able to participate live.

    RSVP to project lead Brandon Currie (brandon.currie@waterloo.ca) to receive an Outlook invite.

  • Digital Strategy survey findings

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    Thanks to all 138 staff members who completed the Digital Services Strategy survey!

    We heard from people all across the organization who shared their feedback on our current state and ideas for the future.

    Summary of responses

    The responses were enthusiastic about the potential for digital tools to improve:

    • customer experience with simplified access to information and services

    • online applications and booking capabilities

    • electronic payment options

    There were also many suggestions for optimizing business operations, such as process automation, self-service and mobile access to information and data entry.

    We will be completing a full analysis of the survey results in preparation for the delivery of our discovery report at the end of August.

    Further details from the survey are below – thanks again to all who participated!

    Who we heard from

    • 138 survey responses spread across all divisions and levels of the organization

    • 68% of responses were received from non-management staff

    • Good mix of tenure with the City

    • 43% new (less than 5 years)

    • 28% established (6-14 years)

    • 28% experienced (more than 15 years)

    • Majority of responses came from staff working at City Centre (58%) or Service Centre (26%), with 92% working in a desk-based setting

    • 88% of respondents were full-time employees

    What's working

    • Staff are ready for digital – 82% are comfortable online, and 70% feel adequately trained to use corporate technology

    • Staff are positive about the increased use of online tools and technologies during the pandemic

    Our challenges

    • Digital literacy and leadership – respondents expressed concerns about competing platforms, lack of overall vision, training

    • Optimization and adoption of corporation solutions – concerns were raised about access to corporate information and applications, particularly in the field, and how corporate solutions are being used across the organization

    • Increasing manual non-value added work – some common frustrations related to the lack of integration with back-end systems and limited mobile access to corporate information and tools that create manual non-value added work like rekeying information from paper or emailed documents

    • Concerns were expressed about the availability of resources to support digital services – staff capacity and limited funding were both raised

    Opportunities

    • Simplifying the customer experience with single sign-on or “window” for digital services, ability to view status of their accounts and applications, as well as expanded digital payment options

    • Increase digital service offering – including online applications, online booking solutions and live chat

    • Optimizing business processes using process automation, approval workflows and field data entry

    • Increase staff collaboration using technologies like document sharing, meeting rooms equipped for hybrid meetings and corporate device deployment to all staff

    • Improving employee self-serve tools, including online forms, timesheets and paystubs

Page last updated: 17 Apr 2023, 12:21 PM