When people speak about a bright future for cities and urban residents, the talk often turns to digitization and electronic services. What do people think digitization will help to achieve? At the least, the objective is to make the authorities more efficient, which City of Jyväskylä in Finland has done.
For example, data that has already been stored on the city’s information systems should not need to be stored again because the data can be used by different services. Also, there is no need to visit the customer services counter because things can be handled electronically. It becomes easier for people to become involved in the decision-making process with the help of online and mobile services.
All of the aforementioned also becomes part of the image of a smart city and smart administration that Trimble’s eServices are helping to build. Trimble has taken determined steps to develop eGovernment by creating interactive eService solutions for customers. “When we develop eServices, we try hard to take customer user experience into account while making administration more efficient”, says Mike von Wehrt, Director of Trimble Public Administration in Finland.
From a practical perspective, Trimble's eServices -applications have been used to digitalize all of the technical operating processes of municipalities, including the process for applying building permits and communication between the various counterparties during construction. Additionally, application of cadastral survey, site offering applications for managing, purchasing and renting municipal plots of land, the environment agency’s permit processes and reservation services are all available as eServices.
Are all electronic services smart?
“Private and public sector electronic services can be considered smart if the services go directly into the organization’s background system and make use of its data”, says the city of Jyväskylä’s GIS Manager, Janne Hartman.
Any of us can appreciate the smartness of service when we use it. If the service can access data relating to us that has been stored on the system, such as our address, it feels smart. A printable application form on its own is not smart. A smart application form communicates with the organization’s background systems.
Hartman also requires smart services to be so good that citizens are willing and able to use them. As regards the systems that are used, Hartman says: “The tools must also be up-to-date and functional. We are using Trimble’s software solution for eGovernment. The applications in the solution form a key part of the city’s electronic service architecture.”
To make services smart, the background must also be in order. “Geographic information data must be up to date and the registers must be in good condition. Work processes must be planned to suit the services.”
The city of Jyväskylä in Finland uses a service entitled "My Jyväskylä", which provides citizens with access to various municipal eServices and only requires a single log-in. The first services to be deployed on My Jyväskylä are Trimble's eServices -applications such as Site Offering. This service has been well received by citizens. “Almost all site applications are sent to us in this way”, Hartman says.
Most recently, Jyväskylä has deployed eServices Reservation service for boat moorings. “We were faced with some challenges during the deployment of the service, but since then everything has worked as expected. The process of reserving boat moorings is now handled electronically from start to finish and the employees’ time has been freed up for other tasks.”
The reservation service is part of the smart service structure. “The applicant’s address and details on available moorings are automatically fetched and displayed on a map”, says Hartman. The reservation service has been made as easy as possible for users: the applicants are shown a map of available moorings, they can then reserve the desired mooring, complete the required details, and pay the rent. “It is as simple as that,” says Hartman. The city’s employees do not need to involve themselves in the reservation process at all.
Managers monitor feedback
Jyväskylä also offers an online feedback service that has been implemented using Trimble Feedback. This service has been in use in all of the city’s divisions for several years now. The city’s employees receive and process feedback and questions that citizens submit using the online service.
“Storing all feedback in a single place is not enough. Every piece of incoming feedback is sent directly to the right person to be processed. If necessary, it can go all the way to the management”, Hartman says. “Managers also monitor incoming feedback.”
Mobile services assisting
The city's own operations can be made more efficient by digitalizing services and providing citizens with good service online. Hartman says that digitalization also provides the advantage of the data being correct. “Data remains unchanged as it is always fetched from an up-to-date database.”
The importance of mobile services is constantly increasing. “Mobile Municipality Jyväskylä smartphone application provides an interface to the website’s feedback service. It is also possible to reserve a boat mooring using a mobile device”, says Hartman. “We will continue evaluating the development of Jyväskylä’s electronic services together with Trimble by listening to citizens also in the future.”
