City of Oshawa Website Development and Support Strategy

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1 ~Oshawa Report To: Corporate Services Committee Item: CORP Date of Report: May 1, 2014 From: Jag Sharma, Commissioner Community Services Department File: A-3500 Date of Meeting: May 5, 2014 Subject: City of Oshawa Website Development and Support Strategy PUBLIC MEETING 1.0 PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to recommend that Council endorse a new strategic direction for the ongoing development and support of the City's website and to respond to the Corporate Services Committee direction, regarding Report CORP-14-11, to provide further information on the City of Oshawa Mobile App and Mobile Friendly Website. 2.0 RECOMMENDATION That the Corporate Services Committee recommends to City Council: 1. That in accordance with Report CORP-14-67, City of Oshawa Website Development and Support Strategy, the City issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the ongoing development, support, and hosting of the City's corporate website to include: a) Mobile device support as a requirement of the new website; b) Online community engagement tools as a requirement of the new website; and c) A web self-service feature as an optional component and awarded if it is within the budget. 2. Subject to Council approval, the project budget estimated at $200,000 for the proposed redevelopment of the City's corporate website be funded from the Annual Technology Projects 2014 capital project and that the estimated annual operating costs for maintenance, support and hosting services for the redeveloped website be included in the 2015 Information Technology Services operating budget. 3.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City's website is a primary source of corporate information and services for citizens, businesses, visitors, staff and other stakeholders. It is a vital communication tool providing

2 Committee (Continued) -2- Meeting Date: May 5, 2014 citizen self-service available 24 hours a day, improving customer service and reducing customer transaction costs. It is essential that the City's online presence provides information and services that are accurate, up-to-date, easy-to-find, meet growing stakeholder expectations, and comply with legislative requirements. Although recent improvements in the City's website have taken advantage of purchased modules to support new features such as calendar, read aloud, on-line chat, and quality assurance tools, the majority of the website features continue to be primarily custom developed modules including the underlying Content Management System (CMS). Over the past few years, the City has put emphasis on a buy versus build approach to implementing technology improvements. This method is more cost effective as it reduces the development and ongoing maintenance costs, allows for quicker adoption of technology improvements, and is a more effective use of limited IT resources. With the growing need to adopt new website features such as mobile support, enhanced customer service tools, and AODA requirements, staff has evaluated the possibility of moving the underlying corporate website infrastructure to a purchased service model. Through discussion with web vendors, staff has determined that most, if not all of the custom features including the CMS site can now be accommodated through purchased modules. Moving to a purchased service model will allow the City to: Move more quickly to adopt new features and meet the growing expectations of website stakeholders; Leverage a larger depth and breadth of resources and skills; Leverage the technology tools already developed to support municipalities and businesses; Leverage enhanced training and support opportunities; Leverage economies of scale for new features and services; and Better focus limited internal resources on other priorities of the City. With the increasing adoption of mobile technology, it is imperative that the City move. forward with the development of a mobile friendly web presence. Moving to a purchased service model also provides an opportunity to replace the underlying website infrastructure with one that supports a mobile friendly interface. To support the goals of the Online Communications Strategy and the City's website as its primary online communication tool, as well as position the City to be able to take advantage of future website enhancements through standard purchased modules, it is recommended that staff issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the ongoing development, support, and hosting of the City's corporate website including the requirement to support mobile devices. It is anticipated that the redevelopment of the current website will take 58

3 Committee (Continued) -3- Meeting Date: May 5, 2014 approximately six months and there is a budget of $200,000 allocated within the 2014 Annual Technology Projects to undertake this work. 4.0 INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES ~ Input has been received from: Corporate Communications Service Oshawa Finance Services Economic Development Services Recreation & Culture Services Parks & Environmental Services City Clerk Services Planning Services Municipal Law Enforcement & Licensing Services Human Resource Services ~ Input was also received from various municipalities, which are summarized in Attachment 1. ~ The City Manager has reviewed this report and concurs with the report recommendations. 5.0 ANALYSIS 5.1 Website Development and Support ~ The City's current website has been primarily developed by in-house staff over the past several years. The underlying technologies used to support and maintain the site consist of several custom-built modules including a Content Management System (CMS), custom payment solutions, and several customer service features. This approach was sufficient in the past; however, technology advancements occurring essentially on a daily basis make this approach ineffective and represent a risk to the corporation in terms of the long-term support of the system. ~ Through discussions with web vendors, staff has determined that most if not all of these features are now available as purchased services and/or software modules. With similar feature requirements across the municipal sector, there are significant potential economies of scale with this approach and many municipalities are now moving toward a hosted environment with features provided and supported by an outside vendor. 59

4 Committee (Continued) -4- Meeting Date: May 5, 2014 ~ The City currently employs two full time Webmaster positions. These staff resources are responsible for the ongoing development and support of the City's Internet and Intranet infrastructure, web integration technologies, as well as assisting with the support of several web-based business applications used across the Corporation. With the growth in the use of web technologies, the growing expectations of the City's on-line presence, and the need to fulfill legislative requirements, the City does not have adequate internal resources to continue to develop and maintain the required enhancements in a timely manner. ~ As a result, staff is developing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the ongoing development, support, and hosting of the City's corporate website. The redevelopment of the City's website in a new hosted environment is expected to take approximately six months and there is a budget of $200,000 allocated within the 2014 Annual Technology Projects to undertake this work including software licensing, design, implementation, configuration, training, and project management services. The ongoing costs for hosting and support will depend on the features included but are estimated to be less than $25,000 per year. Some of the ongoing operating costs are expected to be offset by savings as a new hosted environment may provide baseline tools such as search engines and site monitoring tools which may reduce or eliminate the need for the City to license these products directly. These potential savings will be identified through the RFP process. ~ An interdepartmental team will provide broad input from across the Corporation to develop the terms for the RFP and ensure that the redeveloped site meets the City's current needs. ~ Through the RFP process staff would also explore additional opportunities to improve customer service and staff efficiency through available web modules including any potential standardized tools available to help support the City's Intranet website. Some external providers allow for an a-la-carte approach which would allow the Corporation to proceed at its desired pace depending on resources, both human and financial. ~ At the completion of the website redevelopment project, the City will be in a position to adopt new technologies and features more quickly to meet the growing expectations of stakeholders and will have an opportunity to re-direct resources to higher information technology priorities within the Corporation. 5.2 Website Mobile Device Support ~ With the increasing adoption of mobile technology, consumers are accessing web content using their mobile devices while on the go, leading to the downward trend of personal computer (PC) use. This trend is also reflected in the City's website visitation statistics as one-third of the City's external visits are from mobile devices. Although the City's website is not mobile friendly, most mobile devices can access the site but the 60

5 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: May 5, 2014 user experience is not optimal, as users have to scroll and zoom excessively to view information. Y The four most common online options used to respond to growing mobile device use and to ensure that online content is easy to access are: mobile apps, mobile websites, responsive design and web self-service. Y Current industry trends indicate that a good responsive design website will often counteract the need to offer a mobile app or a separate mobile site for the following reasons: responsive websites require no downloads or updates as it is automatic, whereas mobile apps must be downloaded from app stores; mobile apps require updates as new operating systems and devices are introduced; and responsive websites provide compatibility with various types of devices. ~ To support the City's website as its primary online communication tool as well as to enhance accessibility of information through mobile devices, it is recommended that mobile device support be included as a requirement in a RFP for the ongoing development, support, and hosting of the City's corporate website. 5.3 Mobile App Y Based on municipal benchmarking, the most common municipal mobile apps are waste, tourism, social media and customer service (e.g. submit service request or report a problem). Y In response to a request from the Strategic Initiatives Committee, staff investigated the development of a Mobile App for the City. Staff issued a RFI to invite mobile application development companies to provide feedback on their recommended approach and approximate costs to develop/implement a mobile application for the City. Y In Report CORP-14-11, "City of Oshawa Mobile App and Mobile Friendly Website", staff recommended that priority be given to the implementation of mobile friendly changes to the City's website as it would support the website as its primary online communication tool, as well as enhance accessibility of information through mobile devices. Staff also recommended the implementation of web self-service and the development of a mobile app focused on customer service as they would: provide an additional method for residents to request City of Oshawa services and receive timely resolution; eliminate duplication of work caused by other third-party mobile applications that did not integrate into Service Oshawa's CRM software; and 61

6 Committee (Continued) -6- Meeting Date: May 5, 2014 eliminate the need to have City staff visit the site of the issue to take a picture prior to proceeding with resolving the complaint (e.g. pot hole reporting). >- On February 3, 2014, the Corporate Services Committee requested that staff contact Clarington to obtain information about their tourism app. Staff has confirmed that the development cost was approximately $6,500 with an annual service fee of $3,500. The Clarington Tourism app has been available since last November and has been downloaded over 400 times. >- Additionally, City staff is making use of a free mobile app, See Click Fix, which allows residents the ability to submit issues. Service Oshawa has created a "watch area" in See Click Fix so that they receive notifications when residents submit issues within the City of Oshawa. Upon notification, Service Oshawa enters the reported issue into the CRM software, which is distributed to staff to address. Service Oshawa monitors See Click Fix and closes issues once resolved. >- It is important that the City focus efforts to ensure that the redevelopment of the City's website supports mobile devices as opposed to the development of a mobile app. This approach would allow all mobile devices to access City services and information without the need to download or update a device dependent mobile app. 5.4 Online Community Engagement >- As the majority of Canadians participate in online social networking with friends, family and business, increasingly they are expecting to participate in government decisionmaking online. >- Governments around the world and at all levels are responding by implementing online community engagement strategies as a way to help meet citizen expectations and increase citizen engagement. > Using online community engagement tools can increase public participation by two to 10 times more than traditional methods (e.g. public meetings) as the public can participate anytime of the day without having to travel to meetings at set times and there is no public speaking for those who are uncomfortable in doing so. This improves decision-making as there is increased and diversified public involvement and governments are able to respond to community priorities. >- Recent experience and response to the City of Oshawa's public engagement on the 2014 Budget, Culture Counts, e-bikes and enhanced website indicates that the public would like to provide online feedback and contribute to municipal decision-making using online methods. 62

7 Committee (Continued) -7- Meeting Date: May 5, 2014 Y It is recommended that online community engagement tools be implemented on the City's website, to collect feedback in a centralized location, as well as create more and different ways for citizens to participate in the decision-making processes of government and allow the City to: actively engage the Oshawa community; achieve a greater reach and increase participation; and make more informed decisions. Y The online community engagement tools should include, but are not limited to: discussion forums designed to encourage input and brainstorming; flexible surveys and polls; question and answer forums; interactive budget calculators; social media integration; and built-in analysis and reporting tools. Y Additionally, online community engagement tools must be user friendly, conform to legislated accessibility requirements, be mobile friendly and comply with Canadian privacy laws. 5.5 Web Self-Service Y Web self-service gives residents the ability to report issues or request City services regardless of the type of device being used (e.g. smartphone, personal computer, ipad, etc.) Y The advantage to web self-service, over a mobile app, is that users do not have to visit an online store and download an app to submit a request; they simply use the browser on their device. The information is also integrated into Service Oshawa's CRM software so that the request would go directly to the staff person responsible for resolving the issue. Y Additional advantages are that web self-service increases customer satisfaction as it allows residents to report issues any time of the day. It is also a more cost-effective channel than in-person or over the phone transactions. Y Furthermore, web self-service could also include customer registration, progress reports on submitted issues and map-based reporting. Y The web self-service features will be included as an optional component of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the ongoing development, support, and hosting of the City's corporate website. 63

8 Committee (Continued) -8- Meeting Date: May 5, Website Support for Advisory Committees of Council? On September 13, 2013, the Corporate Services Committee directed "That CORP , being the Sixth Report of Heritage Oshawa concerning Heritage Oshawa's website be referred to Information Technology Services staff for a report back".? As an Advisory Committee of Council, Heritage Oshawa's website must conform to the same AODA requirements as the City of Oshawa.? Staff has discussed the re(!uest with Heritage Oshawa members and the existing challenges with content maintenance and accessibility.? As most Advisory Committee members are from outside the organization, they do not have access to the City's corporate network and current Content Management System.? The options for the maintenance and support of Advisory Committee of Council website information will be explored as part of the RFP for the ongoing development, support, and hosting of the City's corporate website. 5.7 Website Work Plan? There are currently 22 activities outlined on the website work plan supported by the Webmasters. Approximately 15 of these activities are related to planned improvements to the City's external website and will be incorporated in the RFP requirements including changes to the Content Management System and mobile friendly enhancements.? Over the next several months our Webmasters will focus on supporting the transition and redevelopment of the City's Internet site. Effort will also be focused on activities that are not impacted by the initial phases of the redevelopment such as Intranet improvements and the day-to-day tasks required to support the existing website.? Based on the information received through the RFP process, staff will conduct a review of the ongoing Webmaster effort required to support both the Internet and Intranet websites as well as other internal web-based business systems. It is estimated that this initiative will create the opportunity to re-direct resources to higher information technology priorities in the Corporation as of the 3rd quarter FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS? The estimated costs to complete the proposed redevelopment of the City's corporate website are approximately $200,000 and has been budgeted in the Annual Technology Project" 2014 capital project. 64

9 Committee (Continued) - 9- Meeting Date: May 5, 2014 ;;:.. The estimated annual operating costs for maintenance, support and hosting services for the redeveloped website are approximately $25,000. Some of the ongoing operating costs are expected to be offset by savings as a new hosted environment may provide baseline tools such as search engines and site monitoring tools which may reduce or eliminate the need for the City to license these products directly. The net increase will be reflected in the 2015 operating budget. 7.0 RELATIONSHIP TO THE OSHAWA STRATEGIC PLAN ;;:.. The proposed recommendations are consistent with the Oshawa Strategic Plan goal of: Social Equity, specifically the theme of An Inclusive Community and the related strategy of "continue to engage citizens of all ages"; and, Accountable Leadership, specifically the theme of Open and Transparent Government and the related strategy "seek feedback from customers about City services and programs" ::> ' \ ' ' - ~--~~ _,..):..~ Dave Mawby, Director Information Technology Services Jag Sharma, Commissioner Community Services Department Attachment (1) 65

10 Attachment 1 Municipal Benchmarking Municipality Mobile Mobile Online Web Externally App Friendly Community Self- Hosted Website Engagement Service Website Ajax, ON Barrie, ON Burlington, ON Clarington, ON Calgary, AB Cambridge, ON Chatham-Kent, ON Durham Region, ON Edmonton, AB Guelph, ON Halifax, NS Hamilton, ON Kawartha Lakes, ON Kitchener, ON Kingston, ON Kelowna, BC London, ON Medicine Hat, AB Mississauga, ON Nanaimo, BC New Westminster, BC Northumberland County, ON Oakville, ON Oshawa, ON Ottawa, ON Pickering, ON Regina, SA Saskatoon, SA Strathcona County, AB Surrey, BC Toronto, ON Vancouver, BC Victoria, BC Waterloo, ON Whitby, ON Note: No response means either "no" or that the information was not available. 66