More cities make paperless a top priority

More city councils across the country have realized the vast array of advantages of going paperless. From reduced costs to increased efficiency, the benefits of switching to an electronic document management system have become too great to ignore, causing more decision-makers to push for the adoption of these technologies.

Government Technology reported that in 2010, Major Keith Curry of Newport Beach, Calif., launched a citizen's task force with the City Council to examine all of the city's services and departments and assess what technologies are available for potential improvements. First, the task force assessed the records repository software. The initial system, bought in 1998, was essentially just a digital filing cabinet, and the city sought a solution that could integrate better with other systems for expanded capabilities.

For example, the new records repository would need to support electronic workflows that facilitated the routing of documents that involved multiple departments, and it also required a web portal with adequate security that could grant role-based public or private access to files based on sensitivity level. Further, the new system needed to monitor records retention schedules and offer auditing so that access to restricted files could be tracked. Government Technology revealed that City Manager David Kiff has also implemented paperless objectives for the new city hall. A records management system with such features is expected to save hundreds of dollars every year from paper resources and labor costs. The news provider noted that a top priority for the paperless project was to deploy a system that could easily integrate with numerous other softwares in use by various offices.

Advanced features for new abilities
According to the South Side Leader, Green, Ohio, is another city that is looking to cut down on paper use. After a recent City Council committee meeting, members have been considering the deployment of new software to gain greater efficiency and citizen participation within the governmental bodies. Councilman Ken Knodel said the Council will vote on the proposal later this month, and the system most likely launch in November. He stated that this solution would provide residents with access to an information hub, which would include live meetings and other data through the city's website. The news provider reported that the system would also improve Council's workflow, while helping members to create and manage agenda items, simplify the approval process and automate the assembling of agenda packets.

With the installment of electronic document management technologies, enterprises can run more productive, efficient meetings by ensuring all records are quickly and easily available.

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