At KommITS in May, Frends had the opportunity to host David Hällgren from Östersund Municipality. He discussed the progress the municipality has made in digital transformation, facing various challenges like security and open source. Östersund has shown a clear vision and strategic plan for their digital advancement, highlighting the importance of proactive measures, especially for integrations.
KommITS focuses on ICT matters, particularly for small and medium-sized municipalities. At the KommITS event in Sundsvall in May, Frends presented the findings of the DIGG report called "Digitalization 2022", highlighting that achieving cohesive management is still far away although there’s still great potential in sharing common solutions and reutilizing accessible APIs.
But, as the report indicates, there’s a negative trend in the reuse index between 2021 and 2022, something that Frends takes seriously. Frends is determined to reverse this trend by offering a tool that simplifies and encourages the reuse of existing solutions.
How can Frends help break the negative trend?
Frends aims to reverse this negative trend by making it easier for people to share knowledge and get access to solutions created by others. Through Frends' integration forum dedicated to the public sector, users can download templates and source codes, avoiding unnecessary duplication of work. Frends also arranges regular meetings, usually 4-6 times a year, where customers can share their experiences and provide valuable feedback directly to Frends. Customers actively participate in the forum, collaborating to solve problems.
The forum also has a Teams channel where customers can ask questions, engage in discussions, and share valuable information. This not only fosters collaboration but also optimizes efficiency by leveraging solutions that have already been successfully implemented by other municipalities.
Östersund's digital journey
Östersund Municipality's digital journey is supported by three key components: RPA, an integration platform, and an e-service platform. These components work together to create effective solutions, giving the municipality a solid base for further advancements in their digital journey.
Östersund Municipality has effectively leveraged the strengths of each platform and introduced Tintin, a digital employee. Tintin automates repetitive tasks within the administrative process concerning terminations. Building upon this success, their next milestone was the development of a flexible and user-friendly e-service platform.
To advance their digital transformation even further, they needed a modern integration platform that would work well with their existing systems. After a successful pilot project in 2021, Östersund Municipality had the opportunity to witness the simplicity and efficiency of the Frends platform firsthand.
What do the departments think?
The departments within Östersund Municipality have shown great interest in automation and integration, understanding the advantages of simplifying processes whenever possible. It’s in everyone's interest to offer better service and solutions to the municipality's residents, and the feedback from the municipal administrations has been positive.
As Östersund Municipality looks ahead to the latter part of 2023, the goal is to create a more accessible municipality through "My Pages" for the residents. The integration platform will play a central role in managing the digital flow to and from these functions. At the same time, the younger generation is more demanding when it comes to digital services. To meet the needs and expectations of all residents, Östersund Municipality must continue developing digital solutions and attract competent employees.
Collaborative efforts in sharing technical expertise and resources Östersund Municipality understands the benefits of collaborating with other customers in the public sector to share technical expertise and functionalities. This kind of collaboration helps to overcome challenges in developing and managing digital services, making digital progress easier and more efficient.
However, becoming a digitally-enabled municipality comes with its challenges. One of the main tasks is to build a strong foundation for future digital services and applications, which can be quite complex. Security, especially when dealing with personal data, remains a top priority. To overcome these challenges, it requires a willingness to embrace new approaches and take advantage of emerging technological solutions.
"By using Frends, other municipalities can benefit from Östersund's progress and reuse parts of what the municipality has developed. Östersund serves as a great example of progress and the right approach. Despite facing challenges, they have prioritized integration, which has allowed them to build a strong foundation. Many municipalities often express a lack of time for integration during ongoing changes in business systems. However, integrating existing systems facilitates a smoother transition to these systems," explains Robert Jakobsson.
Frends is proud to be part of the solution and looks forward to continuing to support Östersund Municipality and other stakeholders in their digital journey. By collaborating and being proactive, Frends can create a future where integrations and digitalization become a natural and seamless part of everyone's work.
For more information, please contact:
Robert Jakobsson, Senior Sales Manager at Frends Sweden Email: robert.jakobsson@frends.com
Tomas Beijar, Technical Sales Manager at Frends Sweden Email: tomas.beijar@frends.com
