TELECOMMUNICATIONS
constraints, greater coverage of service through
geographic diversity and better risk minimisation
and business continuity/recovery at times of
threat and disaster.
Speaking at National Teleworking Week in
Melbourne in 2012, the former US Ambassador
to Australia Jeffrey Bleich talked up the benefits
of teleworking to the government in times of
disaster and crisis. Bleich said that around 16
million Americans telework at least one day per
month saving approximately 1.5 billion litres
of petrol a year. Durin g the Hurricane Sandy
crisis in the US eastern states, Bleich said that
teleworking was critical.
“Teleworking was vital to our government and
to our emergency services in order for them to
maintain continuity of operations,” he said. “Even
though we had closed many government offices,
including all of Washington DC, one third of the
300,000 federal employees who normally work in
Washington at that time were able to continue
working under their continuity of operation plan.”
He said that normally, only 8% of federal
employees in Washington telework, but that it
rose to 33% during the storm.
Back in Australia, the government digital
landscape is expanding, thanks to the NBN,
and to find the place of greatest innovation and
activity, look no further than your local council.
One program that is taking advantage of the
NBN pathway and transforming government
service delivery is the Digital Local Government
(DLG) program.
According to information that can be found
on the Digital Local Government program’s
website – www.dbcde.gov.au/digitallocalgov –
more than 25 local governments from around
Australia are participating in the program and
use the capabilities that the NBN provides to
deliver improved online services, in particular to
homes and businesses. The aim of the program
is to bring about significant improvements
in the quality, availability and speed of local
government services.
Some of the projects include:
ACT Government – A grant of $395,947 (incl.
GST) is being used to develop improved local
government services using the NBN. The ACT
Government is contributing $132,948 (incl. GST).
The funding is being used to deliver a range of
enhanced online community engagement and
customer support services using videoconferencing
technology. This will mean that the ACT community
will have online access to a variety of community
engagement and customer support services.
Coffs Harbour City Council – A grant of $412,412
(incl. GST) is being used to develop improved
local government services using the NBN.
Council is contributing $149,910 (incl. GST).
The funding is being used to deliver enhanced
building and development application services
using videoconferencing technology. Residents
will soon be better able to lodge, track and
access development applications.
Given therefore the emphasis on providing
mobile and digital solutions to customers and
clients, the logical extension of this trend is
to provide the same flexibility for government
workers and in particular, the customer service
providers in government contact centres.
The additional argument is public and private
sector is both bound by the same laws and
regulations. Government has no excuse to lag
behind private enterprise. It has the same access to
the latest technology. And finally, given that many
previously government-owned institutions have
now been privatised, and more perhaps to be sold,
the general public now have an expectation across
the board – regardless whether their provider is a
public or private institution – for an ubiquitous high
standard of service and protection as a given.
As our workforce is changing it’s clear that WaH is a
key engagement tool for any organisation, creating
the opportunity to reach, engage and retain quality
staff that might not have previously been considered
or to have considered able to work for the public or
private sector – so if we’re not at the forefront – what
are our lost opportunities or hidden gems?
Govlink Issue 2 2013
83
About the ATA
The ATA was established in 1989
and is the peak body for the
Australian contact centre industry,
promoting RECOGNITION,
EXCELLENCE and LEADERSHIP.
The ATA provides comprehensive,
independent and quality
professional development,
information, mentoring and
networking services to the contact
centre industry in Australia. The
ATA supports and champions
growth, innovation and success
for practitioners, organisations
and the region and recognises this
through the ATA National Awards
which is the longest running
program and highly coveted
Award of its type in Australia.
For more information about the
ATA, visit www.ata.asn.au