As Australia’s fastest-growing capital, Melbourne’s population is predicted to grow by 70,000 within the next 15 years.
Outlined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the stats indicate impending pressure on services and citizens across the city, highlighting a greater need for technological intervention.
“The City of Melbourne wants to be the leading organisation for the leading city,” City of Melbourne Principal Lead of IT Capability and Partnerships, Daniela Mazzone, said.
“But do we have a leading organisation to support that city?”
Addressing a bumper audience at the Salesforce World Tour Sydney 2017, Mazzone explained that from a technology perspective, the government authority for Melbourne looks to uphold three core tenants - customer centricity, service oriented and interconnected.
Yet despite such aspirations, it’s legacy service processes were leading to a 60 per cent customer abandonment rate.
“If you look at how you transacted with the City of Melbourne, we had online services but when you drilled down into those services such as applying for a permit, reporting a piece of graffiti or asking for something to be collected, you were often frustrated,” Mazzone acknowledged.
“That could be through an online form or even a paper-based form that is hosted on the website.
“That is, a form that customers needed to print out, scan and send in. We were not digital and we wanted to change that.”
In heading up the organisation’s IT capabilities and partnerships, Mazzone said that to deliver an improved customer experience, seamless interactions through a singular portal should be the norm.
“We are the cafe capital of the world but if you are opening a restaurant or cafe in Melbourne you have to interact with three agencies,” she outlined.
“You need ABN from federal, liquor licensing from state and food inspections and licensing from local government and none were talking to each other.
“We wanted to work with a technology provider that was able to drive a greater customer experience.”
Deloitte’s digital strategy
As a result, the City of Melbourne engaged Deloitte in October 2016, before launching its first digital service by February 2017.
“We didn’t just want any implementation partner, we wanted a long-term business partner,” Mazzone added. “We are building a long-term transformation project and we are going to introduce more services in the years ahead to deliver more benefits to the community.”
Through tapping Deloitte’s Salesforce capabilities in Australia, Mazzone exposed the City of Melbourne to a suite of services and solutions spanning industry verticals, mobile, open collaboration, data analysis and interaction.
“The City of Melbourne was looking for a long-term partner and we explained what makes Deloitte,” Deloitte Australia Customer Technology & Strategy Partner, Mary Lusito, added.
“We are not just a technology implementation house. Deloitte is known for transforming organisations and challenging the status quo.
