Riverside, CA, Bridges the Digital Divide
January 23rd, 2008 Comment on this article
The conference’s second keynote address was delivered by a Laserfiche user—Steve Reneker, the CIO of the City of Riverside, CA.
Riverside was named one of the top ten cities in the nation by the Digital Cities Survey, which recognizes American cities that are committed to integrating technology with citizen service. Riverside is currently in the final stages of Smart Riverside, an initiative to provide free Wi-Fi access citywide. The city also runs the Community Computers program, which provides free computers to households with incomes under $45,000, upon residents’ completion of an 8-10 hour computer training class. Smart Riverside is intended to bridge the digital divide for Riverside’s 275,000 residents.
“Laserfiche has helped us leverage our existing resources and products to enhance our technology investments,” Reneker explained. “We’re improving information access city-wide.”
Riverside began using Laserfiche in the police department to manage audio and video clips, as well as associated case files. The system has now spread throughout the city—and so have its benefits. By implementing Laserfiche in the finance department, for example, Riverside has streamlined the payment process and improved document tracking, resulting in $1.5 million in savings.
Looking ahead, Reneker said that he wants to take advantage of Laserfiche’s ease of integration.
“Our plan is to integrate Laserfiche with our key applications to deliver content robustly over the Web,” he said.
One way Reneker intends to do this is through an integration between Laserfiche and ESRI® ArcGIS® that will enable city staff to access information related to land parcels through their Web browsers. “For example, construction staff might need more information than what’s on a map,” Reneker said. “With this integration, they will be able to drill down to associated content stored in Laserfiche, such as drawings and permits.”
City residents will also benefit from the integration, by using the parcel layer of the GIS system to identify their lot and pull up associated documents. This way, they can see exactly what construction permits were issued in the past—offering enhanced transparency and greater insight.
“We want to give access to everyone with our Web-based tools,” Reneker commented as he closed his address. “By improving information access, we deliver better public service.”