BasicGov / BLOG

Ahead of the Curve blog series authored by HB Lanarc and sponsored by BasicGov explores six major trends in municipal management in the 21st century, including a move to adopt sustainable practices. And leading communities are taking on all of these, and are leveraging benefits through their response to each trend. Read Trend 6 below and comments are always welcome. Read Trend 1, Trend 2, Trend 3, Trend 4, Trend 5. Next week we will have blog series about Leadership Opportunities.

Trend 6: Preparing for Emergencies in Local Governments

With natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina predicted to become more frequent, the importance of advance preparation is clear. Municipalities must have plans to deal with emergency storms, flooding, and other natural disasters. Physical response strategies will include gathering materials and shelter, as well as protecting essential municipal information. Many cities have implemented web-based cloud technology for data reliability, which means that in the event of an emergency the city would have access to its system and data from any internet connection.

Click here to read Ahead of the Curve white paper

This is the 3rd trend as part of our Ahead of the Curve white paper and blog series authored by HB Lanarc and sponsored by BasicGov. Click to read previous Trend 1 and Trend 2.

Trend 3: Public Demands for Accountability

Trust in the government is at an all-time low by some measures. As a result, citizens are demanding more clarity about what local governments are doing, and how well elected officials are delivering on their promises. For example, Chicago recently adopted a performance management program as a means of ensuring accountability to its citizens.

Furthermore, some senior governments are starting to require cities, towns and counties to regularly report “up” on performance. These demands are beginning to extend to details of development applications, with many local governments providing citizens and businesses access with web portals to apply and check status of permits and licenses. A few are even engaging in participatory budgeting processes, involving citizens directly with priority-setting and the resulting fiscal decisions.

What are you seeing as trends in public demands and local government?

Next trend is “Competition to reduce red tape“.

To read full white paper, click here.