Frankston City Council’s GIS-based My Address initiative has taken out a Telstra Local Government Excellence in ICT Award.

 

My Address is a free online mapping service that helps residents discover services and facilities close to their home, such as their nearest schools, community halls, senior citizen amenities, aged care facilities, animal free roam areas, waste and recycling collection dates, councillors for their ward and much more.

 

The Telstra Local Government Excellence in ICT Awards acknowledge outstanding achievements by local government in information technology, and My Address claimed the 2011 award for Innovation for its “use of technology in improving service delivery, efficiency… adding significant value to a local government organisation and its community in an innovative way.”

 

Corporate General Manager Mick Cummins said: “The key business driver behind this project came from the main theme of the Frankston 2025 community vision – that our residents wanted Frankston to be a ‘connected community’.

 

“The community identified Council’s website needed to better meet the needs of residents, and it was clear we needed to streamline how people could find the wide range of information that was relevant to them without having to spend a lot of time searching various pages on the site.”

 

Council Customer Service Civic Centre operators receive approximately 500 calls per day, of which around 250 calls relate to waste and recycling, animals, rates and town planning enquiries combined.

 

With the launch of My Address, the time spent for Customer Service representatives on each call is already starting to reduce as they direct community members to the My Address portal. Over the past month, My Address has received approximately 600 hits, which is expected to rise as awareness spreads.

 

My Address is now moving into its next planning phase. “The potential for this technology is extensive,” Mr Cummins added.

 

“The next stage may include expanding the range of facilities and services online to areas of interest such as the location of public art, tourist information and events that are taking place in the local neighbourhood – further helping to connect residents with their community.”

 

You can see My Address in action at www.frankston.vic.gov.au/My Address