Australian councils relying on triangulated data insights enjoy the best chance of improving the life quality of their communities and becoming a model for smart city thinking.
The digital highway can be a slippery road littered with plenty of potholes. And if you’re part of a local government – navigating your way to becoming a smart city – your journey is undoubtedly seeming a bit like the road trip from hell.
Let’s face it, Martec’s Law alone suggests we’ve all been driving around with the handbrake on.
There is clearly a real knack to effectively plotting a path to digitally transform your organisation. And if I have learned anything from my past two decades working with local government groups across APAC, it is that success lies within three key factors:
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Triangulated insight
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Cross-sector data transparency
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Investment vs impact ratios
In this article, I want to cover off on what I consider the most fundamental component of an effective strategy for leading a digital transformation program – working with truer truths.
It all comes down to how you look at it:
Anyone in charge of a highly complex operation knows the value of accurate data. They’ll also appreciate that when it comes to measuring ‘accuracy’ – one requires a scale.
A single batch of data, viewed in isolation – and most likely from one perspective – has the potential of telling a very different story when validated against another related dataset.
But what about those unrelated datasets?
Triangulated context results from advanced analytics practises where a common data feature – such as ‘location’ is used to connect and literally plot all your organisation’s information onto a single, multi-dimensional viewing platform.
The result is a highly-accurate, highly-contextualised picture of your operation (or operating environment) showing the data and relationships that actually matter.
For those who ‘get it’ – like Governor Martin O’Malley (former Mayor of Baltimore) – the results are instantly transformative.
An unapologetic technocrat, O’Malley is probably the best example (globally) of a senior government decision-maker who has mastered the art of digitally transforming government operations.
For O’Malley, technology was merely the enabler. It was how he actually used the validated insights from advanced analytics tools like GIS that made the difference. And what a difference it was.
His reliance on truer truths has become the model for much of the smart city thinking we are seeing across the globe.
For advice on how data insights can help realise smart city initiatives, call 1800 870 750 or send us an email.
