The site now contains 2132 pages of information, and as of 30 November, 7,290 different people have visited the site on a total of 13,126 occasions and viewed 87,857 pages.

I agree with everything you say. It isn't a part of the LGAM Wiki, and it does have its own identity & structure.

It is a big, big project, so there is no way I will be able to do it all by myself, but I have been trying to work on it a little bit each night, with a view to getting a framework in place. Once the framework is in place, I will try and develop the Bundaberg wiki as an example of what other communities can do, but it from there on I will be relying on people & community groups in other areas to grow it. I would have thought there would be quite a few groups & businesses that would be interested in a bit of free advertising and networking opportunities, but I guess only time will tell.

In summary, good idea but wrong driver and wrong set up.
Regards
Darron

I have been thinking about this for a while now, and I think I have come up with a good way of getting the project happening.

If you are interested, please check out the Unit Rate page, for more information.

When I first put the membership graph on the front page, I was linking live to zoho, which is what I presumed was causing you trouble. This time around it is a local file so didn't think you or anyone else would have any trouble viewing it. It is a png file, but all browsers should be able to view "png" files without any difficulty - the banner which appears on every page is a "png" file.

I have deleted the image of the culvert, and the graphs will move down the page and disappear from the front page automatically as new news items are added. I hear what you are saying about making sure the front page doesn't get too busy, and I hate sites chock full of flash animations and the like that take ages to load, but on the other hand doesn't having just text make it a bit bland and boring?

Like Darron, I'd like to know what everyone one else thinks?

The site now contains 2050 pages of information, and as of 31 October, 6,604 different people have visited the site on a total of 11,900 occasions and viewed 81,742 pages.

The average number of people visiting the site each weeks seems to be trending in the right direction, but it is still pretty up and down from week to week.

When you change the title it can sometimes cause problems with existing links. It is usually best to create a new page and copy the contents across to the new page, and depending on the situation make the original page a redirect page.

I have made a copy, but I have left both pages the same for the moment.

I think perhaps ABEF & Six Sigma should be on the Business Improvement page, and the other links on the problem solving techniques page, but I am open to further suggestions.

ABEF certainly references a range of problem solving techniques, I don't know so much about Six Sigma, but I think it might too.

1. Watching Pages
2. RSS Feeds

Watching pages is the easiest. All you have to do is click on "Start watching this page" at the bottom right hand corner of the page, and you will be sent an e-mail whenever the page is updated. This is a good option if you are interested in one or two subjects and you want to know when there is a change, but if you start watching everything on the site your inbox could start to clog up very quickly with notification messages so it may not be for everyone.

I actually prefer the RSS Feed option in combination with Google Reader & the IGoogle Google Reader gadget.

It is all a bit tricky to take in, but I think it is worth the effort of at least looking at the Google Reader link above. It wasn't immediately obvious to me when I first signed up how Google Reader would benefit me, but I use it a lot now.

If you do decide to use it, here are a few LGAM feeds that you might like to subscribe to.

http://www.lgam.info/feed/forum/posts.xml - all forum posts
http://lgam.wikidot.com/feed/front/start/news.xml - just the posts in the news category

I just started an Introduce Yourself Thread, which would be an ideal place to start if you are thinking of taking the plunge!!

I started a page called Problem Solving Techniques a while a go, with the intent of either compiling a list of process improvement tools or actually developing an open business improvement system for Local Government.

Perhaps I got the title wrong and should have named it "Business Improvement System" or something like that. Given that there are a few people interested in the topic, perhaps that might be a good page to work on as a team project. What do you think?

I agree with you that 6 Sigma may not be the best technique for the majority of councils. I suspect some councils consider (or were advised to consider) it as a tool for process re-engineering during amalgamation. There may be a long way from ‘evaluating’ to ‘implementing’…

Thanks

Good to hear from you. I often wonder if the people who have signed up to the site but not posted or edited much content, are still lurking and visiting regularly or have lost interest and more or less forgotten about the site.

Looking forward to seeing your contribution.

Regards,

Leila

This may be a little controversial, so I am happy to take comments on this. I am sure there are pockets of excellence but how do the majority perform?

Regards

Robyn McIntyre
Moreland, Australia

Do you have link for this? Or when can I find/order hard copy for the same?

Similar studies have been done overseas - for example, in the UK, local councils' websites are ranked annually. On the national level, UN ranks e-government capabilities of about 200 nations every 2 years.

If you like to share your perspective, and, in return, leverage a collective experience of our peers, please contact me via my e-mail. This survey is open to Australian and New Zealand local councils, and all participating councils will receive a complimentary copy of a report based on the survey results.

The first part of this study captures business perspectives and looks into e-strategies from the point of view of 4 key business objectives – Public Service, Business/Economic Development, Financial Sustainability/ Efficient Operation and Community Engagement. A questionnaire designed for Corporate Services and Comms Managers takes about 15 min to complete.

The second part of the study enables benchmarking of e-capabilities using 18 parameters grouped around 3 key functions of LG websites – Inform, Transact and Engage. A questionnaire designed for IT Managers takes 10-15 min.

Thanks,

ua.moc.srotacidni-hcet|avosabba_aliel#alieL

Thank you for your comments. In order to assess financial benefits local councils realise via their on-line service delivery channel we asked local councils to estimate

a) total $$ from on-line public services (rates, registrations, applications, any other services councils may have )
b) total $$ from business services (rates, registrations, applications, tenders and any other services)
c) total cost savings.

3% (of the total council revenue) reflects an average for the total revenue derived from on-line services. I am also looking into non-financial benefits. Better understanding of the on-line revenue may assist councils with planning / prioritization of their e-initiatives.

Thanks,
Leila

This won't help very much, but Wikipedia defines impairment as a downward revaluation of fixed assets.
I have created a page on the topic, and hopefully someone with more accounting knowledge than me, will add some more useful information to the page in due course.

I was just wondering how everyone else defines the term impairment, and how other Councils assess the impairment of Intangibles with indefinite life, eg Water Rights?

Thanks,
Chantell

It is an interesting question. In my experience it is not staffing/skills issues that limit the uptake of Web 2.0 concepts. I think the main battle is to make staff see that web2.0 can make their (work) life easier. I think someone who is properly motivated to contribute to a wiki (for example) could probably learn to use one with reasonable proficiency in less than a day.

Having said that, I am more than happy to be proved wrong, so if there is anyone out there that would like to contribute to this wiki, but feels that they haven't the skills to do so, please let me know.

Does anyone have an example of an efficient deployment / integration of e-solutions for rates payments?

Thanks,
Leila
Technology Indicators

One of the aspects of on-line service delivery / Local E-Government we are looking into is utilization of interactive / Web2.0 concepts and tools.

Preliminary results of our study show that although many local councils feel that they would benefit from the adoption of blogs/discussion forums and knowledge sharing (wikis, SlideShare, etc), one of the key issues is to find the right staff to make use of these tools (our study captures management perspectives on this topic). The issue appears to be not only about availability of the staff to engage in knowledge sharing and/or e-consultations with customers, but also lack of skills – eg ability to moderate discussion forums and process unstructured data.

Although there are other issues with the adoption of Web 2.0 concepts, including lack of demand for this in the areas with low internet penetration /poor internet performance, it looks like addressing the staffing/skills issues may be critical for determining the future of Web2.0 in LG.

What do you think? Does anyone have an example of or strategies for upskilling people to make use of the tools like Twitter, wikis and discussion forums?

Leila
Technology Indicators

We are conducting a study into on-line services delivery (covering Australian and New Zealand local councils), and I would like to share some preliminary findings with you and seek your views/ comments.

One of the areas I am looking into is financial benefits - the revenue attributed to the services delivered on-line appears to be around 3% of the total council revenue (this is an average across local councils). It looks a bit low. About 30% of the councils that participated in our survey so far reported that more than 10% of their rates transactions are executed on-line, but I can not see this being reflected in the revenue.

Any views?

Thanks,

Leila
Research Director
Technology Indicators

I agree, I just want to get the discussion started more than anything. As you say it would be a huge project.
I will add any links I can find to the page, but I wasn't envisaging the page becoming the library.

Yes, I hope it will generate some enthusiasm. It is a very good way of highlighting the fact that people form all over have contributed to the site. I think I will transfer it to the front page permanently after it drops out of the news section.

Click here for a larger version of the map.

In reality, many thanks to you to lead, manage and provide such a platform for all of us to share, learn and grow. I see it as a medium to contribute and gain.

I am glad to find you and other like minded professionals here!!!.

Regards,
Ashish

The wikitext takes a little practice, but I'm sure you will catch on quickly, and the icons above the edit box make life easier too.
I am really thankful to have you sign up and contributing to the site and the forums on a regular basis by the way.
I already had a link to Six Sigma on the Problem Solving Techniques page so I thought it made sense to combine the two articles.

Six Sigma In Local Government

If you like put a sub-heading in the article called Six Sigma In Local Government, like I have done above (3 pluses before any text will make it into a sub-heading).

Thanks for editing page for six sigma (and make it looking better, I am still learning putting hyperlinks (rather than copy and paste) etc in Wiki

I was inclined to be more specific to local government (how it applies and how it is used, how it can be used) rather than mere what Six Sigma is? in context of manufacturing industry. Thats why I called it "Six Sigma in Local Government".

Regards,
Ashish

Please read the AdCiv.org AdCiv.org article referenced at the bottom of the page. It eloquently sums up a lot of the things that made me want to create this site.

I think it might take a few days before it works its way through the system though.

When you get it I have started a wave here - https://wave.google.com/wave/#restored:wave:googlewave.com!w%252BP_9KFo2oB

Cheers,

They are all live links and contain a terms of use link in the bottom right hand corner of the map.
http://www.google.com/intl/en_au/help/terms_maps.html

Google Maps expressly encourages users to add links to their websites, and I suspect that they will be very pleased to have so many of their maps on the site.