SA solves KM jigsaw

Three local authorities in South Australia have stepped onto the knowledge and document management ladder by adopting Advanced Data Integration applications provided by Jigsaw Services.

Jigsaw has been carving out a steady niche in the South Australian government sector by being local, and therefore being able to provide instant support.

Since becoming an Advanced Data Integration (ADI) reseller in October 2001, Jigsaw has been building relationships with the local authorities of South Australia and installing ADI’s DataWorks electronic document management application.

DataWorks is used by over 105 local authorities across Australia and New Zealand. Three new SA recruits to the application through Jigsaw are City of Port Adelaide Enfield, City of Unley Council and the City of Salisbury.

City of Unley is installing the DataWorks application as part of its move towards having a knowledge management strategy, as well as increasing the amount of e-business transactions it processes. By March 2003, with the help of Jigsaw, City of Unley hopes to have 120 end users operating DataWorks to manage knowledge and process document workflow.

”We have noticed that the South Australian local government sector is beginning to rethink its whole strategic approach to knowledge management,” said Andrew McAdams, chief executive of Jigsaw.

Both City of Port Adelaide Enfield and the City of Salisbury use the ADI system for document management.

”We have implemented most of the modules, from the electronic document management system to the customer request management and workflow,” said Peter Kiley, corporate information manager for City of Port Adelaide Enfield. The authority has seen a considerable change in the management of documents since adopting the application, with an increase in document registration and access to complete documents. Email is also being captured by the application.

”Under our old system, we were filing hard copies, and basically registering only the incoming information on the computer system. This translated to registering, on average, 24,000 documents a year,” Mr Kiley said. His department has registered 29,000 documents in 10 weeks.

Meanwhile, City of Salibury will be using the electronic document management application for their property and customer systems. Jigsaw claims its success with the important local government market is down to locality and support, and the authorities agree.

”It is very important to have that training support, as the Council will be undergoing a big cultural change. Not everybody is used to doing things electronically,” said Ludwig Kraayenbrink, manager of strategic and commercial services at the City of Unley Council.