What can you do with Govstack?

Welcome to the first issue of The Govstack Insider.

Since the launch of the Govstack digital platform a few months ago, several municipalities have begun using the platform to optimize the services they provide to their residents.?Others are in the midst of the transition, and still more are poised to make the move. That being the case, we are launching this newsletter with the intent of keeping you informed about Govstack, its upcoming features and enhancements, updates on other GHD Digital innovations, and up to date information on the latest technological advancements and trends that can help you deliver a superior experience to your residents.?

We are committed to providing high-quality, reliable products that exceed your expectations, and this newsletter is just one way we can keep you up-to-date on everything we're doing to make that happen.?

We hope that you find it informative and engaging, and we welcome your feedback and suggestions. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to sharing more exciting updates with you in the future.?

Sincerely,?

The Govstack Team

Executive Exchange with Alison Carden, PMP

For this inaugural issue, we would like to share the Govstack story and the vision for the platform as it continues to evolve. So we went straight to the source, Ali Carden, GHD Global Practice Director. ?

What was the motivation behind Govstack??

The Govstack platform is built on over twenty years of experience working with governments to understand and address their pain points while helping them meet their objectives-both internally and with online stakeholder communications. Govstack focuses on several key drivers. Among them: self-service, centralization, personalization, scalability, measurability, and ease of use.?

The big-picture goal of Govstack is to provide public sector organizations with a platform and digital ecosystem that enables limitless possibilities in easily and more effectively informing, engaging, and serving their communities online.?

Central to the platform is the Govstack CMS, a robust site builder, and content management system that gives our municipal clients non-technical control of their websites; Forms, a system that includes customizable workflow and e-commerce to enhance service delivery to citizens; an intuitive Events tool to engage residents and make it easy for them to stay current and register for events, and a personalized Citizen Portal that provides quick access to government information and services of unique interest to each resident.?

With this solution, governments can more readily meet the needs of both their staff and their residents. Not only does it optimize online service delivery in a way that is compatible with the needs and expectations of the public, but it also provides a way for them to manage the entirety of their digital presence on their terms. We provide the tools that make them self-sufficient.?

Through Govstack, they can plug and play by connecting existing technologies as well as other external tools and systems to centralize all relevant information and services to provide their residents with a more seamless user experience.?

What is your product development strategy??

Our strategy is highly customer-centric, not only for our local government customers, but also for the constituents they serve. We put the customer at the center by creating solutions that are customer-driven.?We use customer-centricity as a gage by which to measure the effectiveness of everything we do. We are uniquely focused on the needs and requirements of municipalities and other government organizations to provide services to their residents that are measurable, optimized and appropriate to the ways in which residents want to be served.?

To ensure that our products are solving the real challenges faced by government, we work closely with our Customer Advisory Board to solicit feedback on existing products and emerging pain points to get input for future releases.?

We also conduct focus groups and surveys leveraging our municipal clients’ ability to collect relevant data. Through these methods we gain a more accurate understanding of their pain points and create the tools necessary to help resolve them.?

What is the strategic vision for Govstack??

Govstack gives our customers better control of their online presence but we have a much loftier goal in mind for the platform. It is poised to evolve into an ecosystem that is?both a technical platform and a centralized community hub for government organizations to share resources, ideas, and information. For example, if a municipality develops a tool or an app to help citizens calculate property taxes, they could share that with other municipalities via the Govstack platform. A sharing platform such as this could significantly enhance the lives of residents by giving municipalities a way to maximize their service offerings in a cost-effective manner. It could, in effect,?allow them to become part of a peer brain trust.?

How will the product roadmap unfold??

Govstack evolved from our i:Create solution. It has maintained and enhanced many of the best features of i:Create, while offering much greater control and scalability. It is an evolving platform that will continue to grow with the needs of our clients. Our goal is to provide five releases per year, influenced by the feedback we receive from our Govstack clients as well as technological advancements in the digital space. We will also be leveraging the deep capabilities of the broader GHD Digital to include other high value product integrations. We want to empower our customers with a dynamic solution that will fundamentally reshape the way they connect with their communities and be an important step in their organizations’ Digital Transformation.

Technology Corner

The Technology train is travelling full speed ahead, transforming our lives along the way. Changes are happening so quickly it’s often challenging for you to keep up and properly leverage the advancements to benefit your organization and community.

As part of our commitment to you, each issue of the Govstack Insider will feature a section on technology. Here, we will bring you news and updates on technological advances and their immediate and potential impact on both the public and private sectors and the ways in which it will directly affect your connection with your residents.?

For this, our inaugural issue, we’re going to give you a sneak peek at the topic for our next issue, Smart Cities.?

An impressive list to be sure, but what does it mean to be a smart or future city??

Broadly defined, a smart city is one that uses information and communication technologies to improve operational efficiency and provide a better quality of government service and resident welfare. Smart cities achieve this by capturing and aggregating data and then analyzing and optimizing decisions to stimulate economic growth, ensure greater sustainability and better the lives of their residents.?

One of the main areas of smart city readiness is in infrastructure, specifically, smart grids, smart lighting, and smart meters. Let’s start with smart meters. What are they and why should you consider implementing them in your community??

You’ll have to check out our next issue to find out. ???

Monthly Roundup

Conference and Event Recap?

Sales have been busy introducing Govstack at conferences and events throughout North America. We are eager to share with municipal representatives how the platform can benefit their communities and increase resident engagement by making it easy to optimize and digitize their services.

Here we are at MISA Ontario in June, sharing the Govstack story. Click here for all the highlights.??

Upcoming Events

We’re going to NACo 2023 in Austin, Texas from July 21-24. Hope to see you there!

Stay tuned for information on our Fall webinar series which will be available on the MISA platform.?

Helpful Resources

Visit our Resource Page to get useful helpful on Govstack as well as news and information on technology relevant to government.?