Interview: Shane Bartholomew, Hume City Council

How has Hume City Council coped with COVID-induced changes to operations and workplaces? Will things go back to a ‘new normal’ in 2022?

Like other organisations, we needed to rapidly respond and make the changes that were needed to keep everyone safe. For us at Hume City Council this meant mobilising a workforce overnight to support working from home and enabling a VPN that was previously supporting 50 concurrent users to cope with an increase to 500. While taking care of the health and wellbeing of our staff, we also focused on our community. They looked to us for support and we were there for them — by helping individuals and families who were doing it tough, setting up vaccination hubs and working closely with community leaders to educate. In 2022 we are looking forward to welcoming staff back into our offices and embracing a new normal with a hybrid working arrangement.

Which new technologies will reach critical mass and become dominant in 2022?

COVID notwithstanding, there has been a growing trend for organisations to embrace digitisation. The pandemic accelerated that change and it’s gathering momentum. I think we’ll see a continued growth in infrastructure as a service (IaaS) as well as software as a service (SaaS) — and a growing awareness of the positive trade-offs when moving to these technologies, whether it’s scalability, reduced overheads, lower maintenance costs and/or greater security. For us, the value proposition includes security of our community’s data, along with a higher level of service reliability. In 2022 we’re delivering both. We are deploying a SaaS CRM system and will migrate most of our on-premises infrastructure to the cloud. Our staff will be able to service the community digitally, over the phone, across the counter or in the field through increased system capability and access to accurate data.

What is the major potential tech pain point that will face all organisations large and small in 2022?

The pandemic has shown the tactical advantage of being digital ready. As more organisations embark on their digital transformation journeys as a matter of survival or smart business, an unintended consequence is likely be a global shortfall in I.T. talent to meet demand. The positive is that in I.T. our workforce is genuinely global. For Local Government I feel 2022 presents a slightly more nuanced set of opportunities. A big focus for our Council will be how we help our community recover after a very tough period and where we invest our resources will be influenced by this goal. We will not be alone, as other Councils also lean in to help in community recovery efforts. Being very clear about purpose and the tangible outcomes that need to be delivered is a helpful anchor and calibration point to have along the journey.

How can I.T. have a greater impact on organisational efficiency in 2022, and who (CEOs, CIOs) should lead the charge?

For I.T. the starting point is to understand who our customers are and what our purpose is in relation to the services we offer. Even when looking to deliver efficiencies, it is important to keep sight of who we are ultimately here to serve. For us here at Hume it is our community and in the first quarter of 2022 we are deploying a new Oracle-based CRM platform that will change how we serve them. Our new CX capability is underpinned by an omni-channel platform with access to a single-view repository containing all customer data within Council. Providing our customers with a more convenient and seamless way to engage with us 24/7, whilst also improving our internal operational efficiency with real-time access to a central, accurate repository of customer information. For us here at Hume City Council our digital transformation is leader led, starting with our CEO Sheena Frost, and is supported by our entire Executive Leadership Team.

Shane is an experienced leader with 20+ years’ expertise in leading strategic transformational change across manufacturing and telecommunications sectors. Specialising in process improvement, data analytics and customer experience, he is known for driving strategic vision and transformational advances that generate solutions for complex issues with a focus on continuous improvement.