Residents will be able to make payments and apply for and renew permits and licences on the City of Airdrie website as soon as next year.
City council approved the E-Government Strategic Plan, May 16.
“Our goal is to provide focused customer service and meet customers’ needs,” said Corey Halford, information technologist for the City.
In the fall of 2010, a website audit was conducted for the purposes of identifying current issues, gaps and future requirements of the website.
The audit included a technical evaluation, consultation with citizens, businesses and City staff as well as benchmarking the City’s services against comparable municipalities. Following the audit, City staff worked with ThirdWave Corporation to develop a five-year E-Government Strategic Plan.
“The audit found that some people were struggling to find information they were looking for in a timely fashion,” said Halford.
“The search engine was also not working as well as it could and we had no consistency throughout the City’s numerous websites, which can cause some confusion.”
According to last year’s Citizen Satisfaction Survey, nearly 80 per cent of residents want more online services. Enhancements to the website will include strengthening the visual identity and design, website navigation, content management, application development and web governance.
The Strategic Plan also suggests improvements in website accessibility for English as a second language residents and the visually impaired. Year one of the plan will see the implementation of a web governance structure, new content management solutions and website redevelopment.
According to the audit, Airdrie’s website is comparable and even slightly superior to similar cities including Medicine Hat, Red Deer and St. Albert.
Airdrie’s website provides more information and transaction opportunities than the other three while Red Deer and St. Albert provide more interactive aspects.
The City estimates the cost of the five-year plan at about $535,000, not including internal resource requirements.
