BRIGHTON Council’s technology business was successful in reaching the finals of this year’s prestigious Municipal Association Australian Technology Awards for Excellence.
Brighton’s CounciWise local government management platform joined nominations from other States as a national finalist in the awards presented in Geelong, Victoria earlier this month.
General Manager Ron Sanderson said being selected as an award finalist was a significant achievement for CouncilWise and recognised the platform as a leader in local government technology management and support throughout Australia and the South Pacific.
Mr Sanderson said CouncilWise was only established in 2017 but was backed by Brighton Council’s 20 years of software development and service.
“Our property and rating solution, PropertyWise, is now used by 18 councils throughout Australia and through CouncilWise, we are now partnering with national and international technology providers to bring a cloud-based, powerful, yet easy-to-use local government management platform.
“Built on the Microsoft Azzure cloud and presented via Office 365, CouncilWise covers the range of local government functions from financial and asset management and property applications, network file sharing, email and other collaboration, to council records, business intelligence reporting and analysis.
“Importantly, being cloud-based, all this information is available anywhere at any time.”
Mr Sanderson said in the early 1990s Brighton Council sought a better way to manage its property and rating, together with the core functions of a local government.
“We were dissatisfied with the products on the market, so took the unusual step of supporting a staff member with programming experience to write a new solution.
“The resulting PropertyWise software was written by local government for local government and went live in 1995, and is now used by councils in Tasmania, Northern Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales, and Fiji.
“Our council-owned subsidiary company, CouncilWise Pty Ltd, was established to partner with local and international software providers to offer a cloud-based, future-ready whole of local government software platform at an effective price to councils of all sizes.
“Strong word-of-mouth interest from councils around Australia, largely without traditional marketing, has resulted in rapidly expanding operations focused on software demonstrations and capability discussions.
“Councils have responded to our local government-friendly pricing, the exceptional functionality of the software and their interest in the unique partnerships, particularly with Microsoft.”
Mr Sanderson said as well as providing an effective state-of-the-art management solution for local government, CouncilWise also reduced technology infrastructure, administration and upgrade costs, ensured that systems remained current and provided councils with reliable, cost-effective and expert support.
“The national award went to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Council, but to be a finalist certainly provides endorsement for Brighton’s product, its strategy and choice of partners, as well as underlining the importance of this management solution for local government in Australia and beyond.”
Brighton General Manager Ron Sanderson
