Granicus honours Aussie & Kiwi digital government leaders

Granicus has announced the winners of its 2024 Digital Government Awards in Australia and New Zealand, recognising public sector organisations for their efforts in advancing digital government initiatives.

Since 2010, Granicus has been acknowledging public sector entities for their use of technology to enhance citizen experiences. Gabriele "G" Masili, Chief Customer Officer at Granicus, stated, "Granicus technology proudly underpins some of Australia's best digital transformation projects across the public sector - from initiatives in sustainability to community liveability - empowering governments to foster engagement, increase efficiency, and improve transparency and community trust. The Granicus Digital Government Awards showcase governments' commitment to digital transformation and service delivery to their constituents."

This year, the City of Gold Coast in Queensland was awarded Changemaker of the Year for its "What's on Gold Coast" project, which has been praised for its impact on community engagement and the positive feedback it has received from customers.

The City of Unley in South Australia received the Community Engagement Award for its project "Shaping Unley – Building Greener Neighbourhoods Together." Mayor Michael Hewitson commented, "The City of Unley is recognised by the United Nations as one of Australia's three 'Tree Cities of the World'. We are committed to building greener neighbourhoods with the aim of increasing tree canopy cover to 31% by 2045."

"Using innovative solutions, Council was able to implement a digital-first approach to its Shaping Unley Community Engagement Framework to deliver the 'Building greener neighbourhoods together' project. We are proud of our community-led project and Granicus' recognition."

The Operational Excellence Award went to Digital NSW for the "Government Technology Platforms (GTP) AMANDA DevOps Uplift Project," which aimed to improve operational efficiencies within the New South Wales Government by streamlining processes and reducing costs. Chad Lusseni, Senior Platform Engineering Manager at GTP, remarked, "The New South Wales Government is undergoing a major digital transformation program to enhance customer service delivery and improve citizen outcomes."

"With the Granicus AMANDA platform, the Platform Engineering team at Government Technology Platforms (GTP) has taken a streamlined approach to licensing and regulatory service delivery. This project has driven operational efficiency by significantly reducing bottlenecks in internal processes and enhancing workforce productivity. Additionally, by automating labour-intensive processes and reducing deployment times, the team has better-positioned agencies to support their talented workforce and deliver improved services."

Woollahra Municipal Council in New South Wales was recognised with the Service Delivery Award for its development of the "Resident Parking Permit Process" digital service. Raj Gopalakrishnan, Website Project Manager at the council, stated, "Woollahra Municipal Council is committed to delivering the services our community needs with exceptional user experience. With Granicus OpenForms we have replaced paper Resident Parking Permit forms and a manual process with a sustainable, digital and vastly improved solution for our customers and staff. Public feedback to the new online application and payment process has been extremely positive and as this is the highest demand area of our business, we couldn't be happier!"

The People's Choice Website of the Year was awarded to the City of Gold Coast for the user-centric design of its "What's on Gold Coast" website, which has been enhanced for improved accessibility and functionality.

Granicus reports that nearly 60 per cent of local governments in Australia utilise their solutions to continually enhance community engagement efforts. The recognition of these initiatives highlights the growing trend towards digitisation and innovation within the public sector across Australia and New Zealand.