Glenorchy council digitises with ReadyTech

Tasmania’s Glenorchy City Council has selected SaaS provider ReadyTech as part of its digitisation plan to revamp online services to 50,000 residents.

The "Community Central" solution will provide Glenorchy’s citizens with 24/7 access to services such as payment processing, customer requests, rates, planning applications, licensing and permitting and other online services.

A partnership with Open Office, part of ReadyTech, to implement its flagship ‘Community Central’ ERP solution, was also signed by the council.

This will comprise the foundation of Glenorchy’s Community Plans (2015-2040) and digital roadmap.

The new strategy will replace the council’s legacy system with ReadyTech’s end-to-end Open Office solution, which includes best-of-breed contracts and procurement solution from Open Windows, acquired by ReadyTech in 2022.

Glenorchy selected the solution after an extensive procurement selection process.

"The implementation will provide both back-office support to manage council for maximum efficiency, accountability and transparency, as well as enable the superior customer service that our community expects," the mayor of Glenorchy, Bec Thomas, said.

Glenorchy City Council is the latest local government to adopt an Open Office platform, following other enterprise resource planning customers in Tasmania, including City of Hobart and Derwent Valley Council.

ReadyTech views Tasmania as a growth area for the wider ASX listed ReadyTech group, which is developing a Centre of Excellence from its office in Launceston.

The company has invested in developing a local hub of technology capabilities in software engineering, data science, product management and customer support.

ReadyTech chief executive of government and justice, and founder of Open Office, Phillip Simone, said his companies have had a solid year in delivering end-to-end ERP software to government.

“Community Central is the only solution on the market that is built with the customer at the centre, using leading edge SaaS-first, mobile-first technology to enable governments to take a customer centric approach,” he said.

Glenorchy Council is also part of Hobart’s first of a kind plan that brings together transport, housing and precinct planning in a whole of-city approach to help coordinate development over the next 30 years.

The Greater Hobart Committee, was formed in September last year and includes the region's four mayors.

A Greater Hobart Plan, which the Tasmanian government, has also adopted, is being rolled out through 2023.

The plan aims to ensure Hobart meets the demands of a growing population, with 60,000 news residents expected with thirty years, and remains a compact city that leverages existing infrastructure and develops new infrastructure when and where it will be needed.