Everyday there are more and more examples of how the US government or state/local governments are implementing open source technology to become more open and transparent. With fiscal budgets tightening, governments around the world are able to do more with open source technology while lowering IT costs. It is helping governments engage with customers in new and exciting ways. Open source technology can serve as the building blocks for open and social interaction between citizens and government.
For example, the City of Denver implemented Alfresco in 2009 to help consolidate content management systems and provide a central content repository for managing city contracts. With the help of Zia Consulting, an Alfresco Platinum Partner, Denver now uses Alfresco as the foundation to help streamline multiple city business processes and to communicate better with its citizens.In the past 15 months, Denver has replaced it outdated contract records system, automated its procurement process, and extended its 311 service to the Web and mobile devices. Using Alfresco as the central content repository, Denver and Zia have integrated it with CRM systems, PeopleSoft Financials and Oracle ESB as well as built reusable Web services based on the CMIS content management standard.
Denver’s use of Alfresco is not limited to internal city processes. The City extended its 311 service from a call center service to include the Web and Mobile apps. Citizens can now download the 311 app from the Apple App Store and easily report non-emergency items to the city such as potholes or graffiti. Not only does this encourage citizen engagement but it shows how governments can cost effectively reuse technology investments to extend services and connect with citizens in an open and social way.
More impressively, the City has been able to do all this while lowering IT costs. In the coming year, the city will further consolidate its content management systems by migrating Documentum content to Alfresco. The city estimates it will save $1.5 million over 5 years.
Denver is a great example of the exciting and innovative things local governments are doing to become more open and transparent. And Denver’s plans don’t stop here…using the Alfresco, PeopleSoft and Oracle ESB infrastructure (and services from Zia Consulting), they plan to make the licensing, inspection and permitting process available online.
Denver’s CIO Chuck Fredrick summed it up best by saying:
“Zia Consulting and Alfresco have been a winning combination for the city. We are able to do more with less and free up valuable budget for other mission critical services. With Alfresco as our central content platform, we are able to automate the city’s internal business processes, increase productivity and improve citizen engagement.”
Click here to read the full case study.
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