Australia’s councils have no choice. They have to go digital, both in the delivery of their services and in their internal operations. They need to do this to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, increase productivity – and because citizens are demanding it.

Digital is a journey. Every council is at a different stage, but a better understanding what the end goal is will allow them to put strategy and planning in place.

To help this process, Government News has launched a new Local Government Digital Maturity Index. The Index is an assessment and benchmarking tool that will enable Australia’s councils to determine their level of digital readiness across service delivery, planning and development, and internal systems.

The Index is based on a simple self-assessment survey to help councils understand where they are and what areas need improvement. Every council that completes the survey receives a tailored benchmark report, showing where they are compared to their peers.

To participate, access the survey here.

The index is based a taxonomy that applies the five metrics of Attitude, Policy, Strategy, Technology and Metrics across each of the five key functions of local government. For each area, the level of digital maturity is determined.

Taking the average ranking across each component provides the overall index, which can also be determined separately for each component. Each technology or methodology within each component can also be compared, providing a complete picture of digital maturity, or “readiness”, by such attributes as size of LGA or which state it is in, to enable a comparison between councils.

Further analysis, of the responses to individual questions in the survey, can then identify specific policies or technologies that might be implemented to improve the organisation’s digital maturity in that area. A council can also be benchmarked against itself over time to determine its progress.

This is the first time such a methodology has been used in Australia. Government News believes it will offer a valuable insight into the level of digital maturity, and identify the gaps and opportunities.

It will also be valuable to the local government industry as whole. Government News will be collating the results in a publicly available report that will identify the overall state of digital readiness of Australia’s Local Government Authorities, and the key issues involved.

We welcome your participation. It costs nothing except 20 minutes of your time to compete the survey, and you receive your valuable benchmarking report at no cost.

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