COURTNEY McCLURE, The Standard
SCUGOG: Have you heard of the Scugog five-year Corporate IT Strategic Plan?
This plan considers how the Township can use technology to enhance services within the community.
Becky Jamison is the director of corporate services/clerk for the Township of Scugog. According to Ms. Jamieson, the plan looks at how the municipal offices provide services to the community.
“It looks at specifically what we are doing really well, areas of improvement and areas that are non-existent,” explained Ms. Jamieson. The non-existent portions mean there may be some services that the municipal office isn’t providing at all.
The Corporate IT Plan will also make recommendations to the Township. This may include adding a customer-relations management system so residents can make service requests.
For example, if you’re out driving on one of the roads throughout Scugog and you notice a pothole in the road, you can electronically submit a request. Then the Township staff receive the request.
Once staff start working on the issue, the resident who sent the request receives progress updates.
The IT Plan will also address situations like this using a “roadmap,” said Ms. Jamieson.
“So [The Plan] is going to look at how, internally and externally, we can improve services,” she explained.
An example she used internally included staffing. The Plan will help the Township figure out how to improve the community using technology.
It will help the Township figure out how to improve customer service using technology within the township.
The Township currently deals with these issues through manual processes, often including paperwork.
A community resident may call the Township office, reporting a pothole on one of the roads. The staff at the Township are currently dealing with these issues via email and on paper.
“So, internally, through technology, we’re hoping to improve and enhance those systems,” she said. Hopefully, implementing this plan will help Township staff deliver better response times and statistics.
A public survey was released in November 2021. The Township received over one hundred and eighty responses from the public via this survey, according to Ms. Jamieson.
The responses from the public provided input on services, telling the Township what they would like to see based on this Plan.
Some feedback included people who would like a self-service kiosk within Township buildings.
For example, if they are at the Scugog recreation centre and want to register for a program. They could use a tablet or computer provided by the Township at the facility to register.
For more information about the Scugog Corporate IT Strategic Plan, visit my.scugog.ca/it. Or contact Becky Jamieson at bjamieson@scugog.ca.