GDC wins financial innovation award for smart system

AWARD WINNERS: Gisborne District Council has won an excellence in innovation award. The key people behind the award are from left business intelligence developer and system designer Steve Neshausen, GDC operations group manager Barry Vryenhoek and project manager Marianne Gillies. Picture by Paul Rickard

GISBORNE District Council has been awarded the prestigious 2015 ALGIM Excellence in Innovation award for developing a smart financial management system called Financial Business Intelligence (FBI).

Gisborne had two projects nominated in the final group of six nominations from councils across the country, including Auckland and Hamilton, at the Association of Local Government Information Management awards.

GDC operations group manager Barry Vryenhoek accepted the award on behalf of the council.

“I am ecstatic. This is amazing recognition for the team, the organisation, as well as Gisborne’s reputation on a national stage. I couldn’t be prouder right now,” said Mr Vryenhoek immediately after the win.

The award recognises and celebrates best practice, innovation and technical leadership within local government information and communication technology (ICT).

Chief executive Judy Campbell said she was very pleased and proud of the team effort here.

“This project is one of a suite of changes that is transforming the way that GDC works. It brings the council’s financial management into the 21st century.

“This is a key mechanism for ensuring we hit our rates rise containment targets.”

The judges said the project had a clearly defined scope and the council’s processes had significantly improved by using this system.

A staff collaborationLed by project manager Marianne Gillies, and business intelligence developer and system designer Steve Neshausen, staff collaborated with the software owner to adapt existing products with no significant additional costs.

Mr Vryenhoek said that in developing the system, the team focused on the desired outcomes and were not led by the constraints of the software.

“Ultimately FBI provides managers better understanding and ownership of their financial data. It allows for consistent statutory financial reporting and supports them to make better financial decisions with easy access to financial key indicators and trend information,” says Mr Vryenhoek.

FBI was designed for the local government environment and was already now used by other councils.

Mr Vryenhoek said his team was striving every day to improve the way it operated, ultimately for the benefit of the community.

Gisborne District Council was also a finalist for their “Lync” project, a digital communications tool similar to Skype which replaced the council’s telephone network.

“It is a significant piece of technological infrastructure and the roll-out was completed without disruption to our day-to-day operations.”

Mayor Meng Foon also congratulated staff in leading innovation.

“This can only be done through having skilled people and resources to achieve transparency,” he said.