designing and developing effective and efficient municipal websites
DESCRIPTION
Rami Kassab is the CEO and co-founder of Typethink, a creative web design and development firm located in the heart of Portland. Rami headed Typethink's initiative to expand into the municipal sector through their custom web application development services. Typethink has since contracted with the City of St. Helens to design and develop a new branded website offering a comprehensive set of services to their residents. Through their collaboration with St. Helens, Typethink has put together a partnership program in order to engage other cities for the multi-year development project.TRANSCRIPT
Designing & Developing Effective & Efficient Municipal Websites
1By Rami Kassab, CEO & Co-Founder of Typethink
IntroductionsRami Kassab ([email protected])Bachelors in Computer Science with minors in Multimedia and Business from OSU - Go Beavs!
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Business 101... Seriously?Yup :)You run a businessSpending 40k employing someone to accomplish a task you could automate with 10kFor 50k, you could automate that task and reallocate your talentDecisions, decisions
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Resource ReallocationSimply increase spending and ignore the efficiency of our internal operations?I think not... hospitals anyone?Idea! Lean up and focus your talent on what's importantExamples...
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Payment AccountingInputting utility payment records into an accounting system... manuallyFull-time job that the residents of a city are completely indifferent toEffective use of tax payer dollars?Automate and reallocate!
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Form ProcessingResidents download and fill out a PDF formFax or mail it inManual form processing introducing errorsWhy can't this be done online again?Efficient? Green? Cost Effective?Automate and reallocate!
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Dynamic Form GenerationProvide functional interface for putting together a usable formSpecify validation rules to ensure data cleanlinessTie to a workflow...
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Form WorkflowsCity of St. Helens park reservationsSpecial conditions coded into the formTriggers for calling other workflowsThe list goes on...Weʼve been doing this for years, come on people!
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Ouch! My Eyes!A usable website is a useful websiteNavigation needs to be compact and succinctSearch has to work and work very wellContent rich but not heavyPleasing to the eye
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Open Source BabyGovernment of the people, by the peopleCitizens can change government... why not the technology?Municipalities need to adopt open platforms conducive to change by the public
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Social BeingsPeople are socialShouldn't government be too?City Hall used to be effective but it's now 2010Time for a new approachGuide the process of open citizen interaction
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Virtualize the MassesGovernment provides a physical place to discuss, but only a fraction of us use itWe are busy people, what do you expect?No problem interacting on social networksVirtual City Hall anyone?
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The Bottom LineGovernment is a businessBut WE are the employees and the stakeholdersOur business is technologically inefficient and wasteful, unnecessarilyThe public can help if we are given a means
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The Word
Automation != TerminationBUT
Resource Reallocation = Optimization
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Introduce efficiency, cut costs, optimize operations, and spend money wisely.
Didnʼt all of our parents teach us that?
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Utilize your available talent in the most effective means possible. Software can
certainly help you achieve that.
Reallocation!
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Appeal to those you serve... the people. Give them a means to collaborate productively. Provide an inviting
atmosphere.
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Fin.
Thank You!
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