Auckland has the vision to become the world's most liveable city. A title the city for sure well deserves, maybe already today.
To all folks who happened to be in Auckland recently: Would you have been surprised to hear some local folks telling you that Auckland is the best city? Probably not. But let me tell you they are on the way with the Auckland Plan:
Currently Auckland is the #9 for livability according to the Economist. Well after Vienna, Vancouver and top placed Melbourne. But to get to the top itself, Auckland has set up the Auckland Plan which will guide the city's future over the next years. The plan aims on areas such as
- less transport and housing shortages
- a better start for children and young people
- more jobs, and
- a better protected environment.
These aspects are by the way also key elements of SAP Future Cities program. And that is maybe no coincidence, because one main cornerstone of the vision to become the most liveable city is the implementation of the “NewCore” programme. It was set into place to consolidate the outdated operating systems of eight formerly independent local bodies on a SAP platform. And it aims to make life easier for anyone dealing with the council and, over time, save ratepayers millions of dollars.
For example, in the past to lodge a resource or building consent application, someone had to visit a council building, with documents, lodge the application in person and then make a separate payment. The files would then be physically shifted from desk to desk as the application moved through the system, as Chief operating officer Dean Kimpton explained. With NewCore the whole process is managed online.
The Council just released that IT investment is on track within budget and a $103m expenditure to 31 January 2016. And this despite ( 
) challenging learnings such as that merging eight systems from the previous councils is more complex than originally thought.
Examples of what Aucklanders will use in the future include abilities…
- to lodge and track consent applications from start to finish
- to easy access property files,
- one location to book community facilities across the region, and
- being able to pay for council services and licenses online.
Check out yourself the new online services in Auckland to apply for Building Consents and Resource Consents:
We will likely hear more from Auckland soon.
Klaus Wigand
Global Solution Manager for SAP Public Securityand Future Cities
Industry Business Solutions
SAP SE