Councils to turn to cloud, partnerships to address challenges

Local councils in Australia and New Zealand will increasingly turn to partnerships and consolidation, as well as technologies including cloud computing and social media, to address challenges including tightening funding and new operational demands.

So say the results of a recent survey from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

The study found that 87% of local governments plan to outsource to help drive technology innovation, and 73% of council leaders believe that providing sustainable infrastructure will be the main policy issue for the next 10 years.

According to the survey, only 42% of local government leaders believe that their council currently has the management skills needed to successfully manage the transformation required over the next decade.

This will drive 40% of leaders to look to strategic partnerships to fill the gap, while 32% believe that council mergers will be the primary operational response.

Nearly 96% of respondents meanwhile expect to see increased local government service consolidation over the next decade, with 84% stating that councils will operate some services under the shared services model and 38% believing that a significant proportion of services will be privatised.

Cloud computing is expected to be the technology most likely to shape council services during the next 10 years, followed by automated assets and the Internet of Things.

UTS Associate Professor Roberta Ryan said the majority of local councils have plans in place to adapt to future challenges.

“Most local government leaders are canny enough to understand that they won’t be able to go it alone during the coming years and they’re looking at every angle to best meet their citizens’ needs,” she said.

“It has obviously been a period of significant change for many local councils across Australia and New Zealand; however, their leaders remain very optimistic and focused on the challenges ahead.”

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