The Centurion City Council is set to become much more technologically advanced with a vast array of information available to assist the public at literally the touch of a button. Two years ago the Council's Chief: Civil Drawing Services, Danie Chalmers, approached Centurion-based spatial solutions provider, Computer Foundation (CF), with what at that stage seemed an unattainable dream of integrating its new financial system with the council's town planning information. Historically, most treasury departments 'jealously' guarded their information.

The challenge was to combine the data from the treasury department, town planning's cadastral information, and the city engineer's street numbering system, whilst still maintaining confidentiality. The result of close cooperation and planning between the City Council and CF was a quick, easy to use system. This was despite the fact that there was an enormous database whose integration with a mapping system could have resulted in considerable delays.

The council is presently on an Intranet system, but its future vision includes an Internet system that will allow ratepayers to withdraw information, using the Internet, on anything from the valuation of a property to the size, measurements and zoning. Chalmers says city Councillors and estate agents will find such a system, whereby information will be available almost instantaneously, of great value. The intranet system is already in use in the City Engineering Department but will, after an in-depth information session involving the council's whole management team, be extended to include all departments of the council.

A complaint system is also being linked to the newly integrated information system. This will allow the council to deal with complaints from the public. For example: a sewerage complaint will be quickly and efficiently dealt with by printing out the complainant's details and handing them together with a small map to the workman.

The system will also allow the council's emergency services to respond far quicker to crises. A lot of time is usually wasted searching for addresses, but with the new system, a small street map can be printed out in less than 15 s. The Council's Traffic Department already uses the system on a daily basis.

"Our goal is better and quick service, where members of the public can be helped at a single station, instead of having to phone or traipse around to various departments. This is made possible by linking reliable information from the Treasury Department with the information from other departments, which was in the past handled separately. The foundation has now been laid for an excellent integrated information system, which I believe will be as enthusiastically received by the public as it was by the council," says Chalmers.

Computer Foundation

(012) 672 0100

www.cf.co.za