Wollongong City Council

Digital Transformation fundamentally changes the way an organisation operates and delivers services. It integrates digital technology into all areas of the business, and along each step of the customer journey. But more than anything, digital transformation is a cultural change, a different way of thinking, a willingness to challenge the norm, to give a new idea “a crack”, and to get comfortable with failure.

In 2018, the time was right for Wollongong City Council to embark on a digital transformation that aligned with our position as a City of Innovation. However, for Wollongong City Council, digital transformation was far more than just moving legacy systems to the cloud, digitalising how information was stored, or even using Artificial Intelligence to inform decision-making. It was a fundamental change to the way Council conducted business; a cultural shift in the organisation to have the courage to work together to do the right things better.

It started with an Information Management and Technology Strategy that aligned with the organisation’s objectives with business goals and was co-created with the organisation’s executive and middle management. We redesigned businesses and products around customer-focused outcomes, including using cloud services to accelerate change. We embraced mobility, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things to boost operational efficiency and respond to evolving community expectations.

“But more than anything, digital transformation is a cultural change, a different way of thinking, a willingness to challenge the norm, to give a new idea “a crack”, and to get comfortable with failure”

We needed to redesign the provision of information technology services. Being largely technically and on-premise focussed, the functions needed to be refined and revised. The operating model was redesigned so that the new functions could be delivered. The operating model specified all the functions required to deliver the information and technology strategic objectives and the structure, roles, and responsibilities designed to deliver these. It was necessary to retrain our employees in the cloud, cyber security, data analytics, DevOps, and other modern technologies. In the business, our field staff also needed training in computer literacy, mobile device utilisation, information privacy, and cyber security. We also created strategic relationships with a handful of external providers.

But, more importantly, a cultural change was required to support this digital transformation. In 2018 staff also participated in a refresh of our organisational values. The focus was on creating an enabling place that shapes the choices that people make daily and encourages collaboration, innovation, interdependence belonging, and inclusion. The refreshed values provided the framework and the language to be open to having the courage to challenge the norm while being respectful and ensuring that sustainability and working across information silos were paramount. The cultural change was imperative in supporting the digital transformation journey that was about to begin.

According to Capgemini Digital Transformation Institute and MIT Sloan School of Management many digital transformations are delayed or fail due to poor leadership, disconnects between IT and the business, lagging employee engagement, and substandard operations. However, the key to the demise of many digital transformation projects is the use of cost-cutting as a driver, a bigbang approach, and a failure to include the business in planning and implementation . At Wollongong City Council we have adopted an agile approach, providing the mechanisms to flex and change should this be required. Let’s face it, who could have seen the COVID-19 pandemic coming! Our drivers are clear.