Investing In The Future
Peel Goes Digital

NRU
Nov. 29, 2017
Daniel Taylor

Peel Region is increasing the productivity of its employees and the accessibility of its services through a digital modernization strategy. 

Last week implementation of the strategy began with a schedule to increase the number of regional services that can be accessed online, as well as modernize staff workspaces and digital tools. New digital services will include an online lobbyist registry, online portal for contractors and developers and online booking process for the local TransHelp program. 

Service innovation, information & technology client delivery director Shaifa Kanji told NRU that staff has developed an implementation schedule to guide the region’s investment in technology infrastructure over the long term. 

“The whole purpose of the digital strategy is to make sure we’re future focused so we can meet the growing needs of our residents, employees and partners,” said Kanji. “We’ve created a three-to-five-year road map [that] we’ve just started to execute. These are the exciting times because we’re finally starting in on these initiatives.” 

The focus of the refreshed strategy is to meet residents’ increasing expectations around ease of access when dealing with regional government. With the use of mobile phones and web applications so widespread, the expectation is that government will engage with the public in ways that lets people use their devices ways similar to private sector services such as online banking or applications used to book services such as car rentals or grocery delivery. 

“If you look at people in general, they’re expecting ease of access. They have a lot of mobile tools at their disposal [such as phones and tablets] so they’re expecting a similar kind of interaction when they use our services. So it’s essentially a modernization plan to make sure we’re able to provide these services in an easy to access format for our residents,” said Kanji. 

Human Services section chair and regional councillor Martin Medeiros told NRU that the region has been lagging behind in modernizing its technology infrastructure. This makes it difficult for staff to collaborate between departments. 

“Different departments have different [technological] needs and they were each downloading different programs and apps they needed for their department. That has to be controlled so that each department [has technology that meets its needs] and there isn’t this mismatch of different technologies. The digital strategy provides that framework and roadmap.” 

Medeiros even had to give up his efforts of a paperless office because the region didn’t have the needed technology. 

“When I first came on I was given a Microsoft tablet of some sort. But the actual interfacing with it was difficult, if you want to juggle notes or view lengthy reports it would crash or freeze. So you’re in the middle of council trying to review a document and you’re constantly looking for IT support ... I sort of gave up after two years of frustration trying to go paperless,” said Medeiros. “I’d love to be able to walk around with a tablet where I can have everything I need to reference right there … but I’ve had stay with a papermodel and carry around a big binder sometimes.”