28
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
OCTOBER
2014
PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS
“Many municipalities are taking a
novel approach of late,” explains
Rene Pearson, Aurecon project
manager. “We are seeing a move
toward a more integrated approach when
it comes to interacting with communi-
ties. Government entities are looking at
ways of adopting a shared services model
which enables a coordinated, multi-agency
response to community requests for service
via a single point of contact.”
This approach is being supported by
legislation. The Disaster Management Act
requires every District Municipality to estab-
lish a centre which coordinates responses
to and planning around incidents. Similarly,
the introduction of the proposed Road Inci-
dent Management System (RIMS) Policy
supports the approach of coordinated and
proactive response to incident manage-
ment and reporting. “This has effectively
provided a mandate for government entities
to proceed with the establishment of shared
services centres,” believes Pearson.
In order to comply, the Chris Hani
District Municipality (CHDM), one of seven
districts in the Eastern Cape Province, com-
missioned Aurecon to develop and imple-
ment solutions for the Municipality’s ‘Infor-
mation Management and Communication
System’ project.
One of these solutions was the design
and implementation of an Intelligent Inci-
dent Management Portal (IIMP). “With the
recent advances in cloud computing and
virtualisation, technology is now more user-
friendly and affordable than ever,” says
Pearson. “An Intelligent Incident Manage-
ment Portal (IIMP) allows multiple municipal
entities and emergency services agencies
to log on via the web to a centralised portal
housing the various modules supporting the
municipal shared services environment.”
The IIMP was designed to include
multiple functionality, including:
• Call taking and dispatch (registration
and response to incidents)
NOVEL
APPROACH
to municipal service delivery
South African municipalities
are faced with a host of daily
challenges when it comes to
trying to provide the required
level of service expected by
their respective communities.
Addressing general inquiries
and requests for assistance,
in particular, remains a
significant challenge.
• A web based geographical information
system for the monitoring and
sharing of spatial information,
including an advanced document
management system
• Business intelligence tools and
dashboard reporting
• A mobile application which allows the
use a cell phone to capture generic
incident related information in real-
time. This information is available
immediately in the portal, with self-
generated and automated reporting
done instantaneously.
“Through centralising a host of functions
across several municipal departments,
Aurecon was able to assist the Municipality
to save costs and achieve major improve-
ments in service delivery by integrating
emergency and non-emergency services
into one well-designed, virtual location,”
says Pearson.
“The streamlined shared-services solu-
tion allows users to access various function-
ality from anywhere in the country using
a computer, laptop, cell phone or tablet,”
says Pearson.
As a testament to its success, the innova-
tive IIMP was recognised with a VUNA award
in the category: The Best District Munici-
pality with Disaster Management Systems at
the South African Local Government Awards
(SALGA) function held in February 2014.
The IIMP system Aurecon designed is
modular, scalable and readily replicable to
suit a client’s specific vision and budget.
Coupled to this, it will ensure the CHDM is
able to meet and exceed the required level
of service to the public and their respective
communities now and into the future.
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