Congratulations to all the 2018 finalists for these awards. The finalists will be presenting at our Annual Conference, you can register using the button above, if you haven't already.

Excellence in Innovation

4D CEMETERIES, Ruapehu District Council
Ruapehu District Council embarked on a project to provide their cemeteries within a rich 3D environment, with the intention of providing the opportunity and experience to relatives, friends and genealogists to visit their cemeteries via an immersive, high definition 3D application via their internet browser.

NEXT-GEN NETWORKING (SOFTWARE DEFINED WAN), Hastings District Council The five Hawke’s Bay councils have uniquely pooled resources and collaborated to jointly execute the delivery of nextgeneration networking known as SDWAN (software defined WAN). SD-WAN is driving the need to rethink what the WAN looks like and how it operates improving innovation and collaboration across the five councils as well as reducing costs.

ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION, Auckland Council
Auckland Council has embraced emerging process automation technology as a way of doing more with the same resource and as a way of enhancing the quality of work for staff, eliminating the repetitive and often frustrating elements. The key drivers were error reduction, faster transaction processing and enabling process standardisation. 

USING DATA FOR BEHAVIOUR CHANGE, Auckland Transport
Most of Auckland’s roads are used at their maximum capacity just two hours a day on weekdays – so arguably congestion is not due to a lack of roads, it’s due to everyone wanting to use those roads at the same time and in their own car. To tackle this head on, Auckland T ransport Business Technology ran a trial in August 2018 to see if real-time and historical data could alter commuters’ perceptions, and ultimately change their behaviour. 

SENTIMENT ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTARY, New Plymouth District Council
Sentiment analysis work was carried out to support the council and public engagement by gauging sentiment at an aggregate level on certain topics and issues. The work required the NPDC BI team to utilise Python to build a model that would assess positivity on a -1 to +1 scale, for every comment made on NPDC’s numerous Facebook pages. The end result is a dashboard hosted on Power BI Report Server which allows our communications & marketing team to gauge public sentiment on a particular issue as they post about it.

CUSTOMER PORTAL, Hurunui District Council
With the internet, customers now expect to do more and have access to information when it suits them.The need to move from a “9 to 5” organisation and into the 24/7 world of the internet has identified the need for a Customer Portal (GoCouncil portal). The portal allows customers to See their Council Records, Pay for Council Services, and Do; apply for, or renew Council services. If customers wish, they can use live chat functionality to interact with the customer services team.

Best Technical Solution

DIY INTERNET OF THINGS SENSOR NETWORK, Timaru District Council
Timaru District Council have successfully developed a working air quality sensor design and associated LoRaWAN network, at a reduction of over 20x the cost of the quoted commercial offering, with 2.5x the number of sensors.

The sensor hardware has been developed in house using off the shelf components and sensors, moving from an initial prototype build through to a custom designed printed circuit board, with 3D printed enclosure.

By using open software and systems, they have enabled side benefits of a publically usable LoRaWAN platform for the Timaru District, and open access to the resultant data. The system hardware and microcontroller software is also to be made available.

SAFE SWIM, Auckland Council
The updated Safeswim programme pulls together data from Auckland Council and Watercare’s long-term monitoring programmes, sensors on the water network, high-frequency risk and event-based sampling programme, meteorological data, the council’s network of rain gauges and rain radar, advice from Surf Life Saving Northern Region’s patrol captains and control centre, and advice from medical officers of health attached to the Auckland Regional Public Health Service. Auckland beach users now have access to a fully-integrated web and signage platform – a ‘one stop shop’ for advice on beach conditions that allows them to ‘check before they swim’ and make informed decisions about when and where to swim.

WHANGAPARAOA DYNAMIC LANES, Auckland Transport
When the Auckland Transport Operations Centre (ATOC) lit up the eagerly anticipated Whangaparaoa Dynamic Lane (WDL), a challenging technology-driven upgrade to the only road in and out of the rapidly developing Whangaparaoa peninsula, lights on the central median strip changed colour to indicate it could be used by east-bound traffic, and within minutes the normal afternoon peak congestion had all but disappeared.

At the flick of a switch and at about 1/10th the cost of alternatives, the WDL had doubled the route’s effective capacity without any land acquisition and without removing any walking or cycling facilities.