The Connected Council: Smarter Processes, Trusted Information, Better Community Services

Australian councils commonly face three interconnected challenges:

• Records governance and compliance: maintaining control of information across Microsoft 365, line-of-business applications and traditional repositories.
• Pressure to improve productivity: reducing administrative workload without increasing headcount or undertaking major system replacement projects.
• Legacy systems and information silos: records, planning, property, finance and customer service systems that don't work well together plus revitalisation of ageing ERP systems.

How can councils improve service delivery, productivity and accountability today, while building the trusted information foundations required for AI tomorrow?

Key discussion points

• Break down information silos across council systems: Connect information across Microsoft 365, electronic document and records management systems (EDRMS), and planning, property, finance, asset and customer service systems without replacing core applications.
• Automate council processes to improve community outcomes: Identify where automation delivers the greatest value, such as development applications, resident service requests and procurement approvals, to reduce manual administration and improve responsiveness.
• Treat information governance as a strategic imperative: Move beyond compliance by using records management, information security, accountability and transparency to build trust and meet regulatory obligations.
• Build an AI-ready council: Establish trusted, governed information as the foundation for AI, and address the risk, accountability, privacy and policy requirements councils face.

Who should attend

Senior IT, digital and information management leaders in Australian councils, alongside operations leaders responsible for core business processes and service delivery.