Does Auckland need a digital and technology advisor?

Auckland is set to benefit from the establishment of a chief digital and technology adviser, proposed by Auckland mayoral candidate Victoria Crone.

The appointment is designed to help lift Auckland Council’s performance across the board, according to Crone.

Crone says a chief digital and technology advisor (CDTA) will be vital in understanding how Auckland is currently positioned and advise on strategies to become a world class digital city.

She says the CDTA role will lay the groundwork for a comprehensive programme that accelerates the use of digital and other technologies across Auckland Council and CCOs.

“We are the largest council in Australasia, with 1.5m Aucklanders, $63bn of investment in the ten-year plan, a significantly large day-to-day user base and a huge rate of growth,” says Crone.

“Keeping up and ahead of digital and technology advances is crucial to improving user experiences and driving cost-effective, future-proof decisions,” she says.

“It’s actually an integral part of any organisation’s ability to operate and survive. Here during Tech Week we’re seeing seeing some game changing technologies that could help solve many of our city’s problems,” Crone explains.

Crone has proposed a CDTA appointed by the mayor, funded from the mayor’s budget, who could also provide recommendations on Governing Body decisions from time to time. Learnings and recommendations will extend to Council, CCOs and some partner organisations.

“The CDTA will contribute to improvements in Aucklanders’ experiences across the council family from bookings, consenting, complaints, tenders and information requests, to libraries, transport, rates and rubbish collections,” Crone says.

“We also need to be serious about technologies that are going to change the types of infrastructure and investment we need into the future,” she says.

“The new role will ensure investment decisions like transport are optimised with proven technology solutions.

“Governments and organisations globally are waking up to the need to understand and apply digital technology to the way they do things and make decisions,” explains Crone.

“The CDTA will assess, advise and collaborate on council’s ability to do this.”