{"id":14087,"date":"2019-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/viljum-gera-thjonustuna-snjallari\/"},"modified":"2022-10-25T09:02:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T09:02:32","slug":"we-want-to-make-the-services-smarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/viljum-gera-thjonustuna-snjallari\/","title":{"rendered":"We want to make the service smarter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sigurj\u00f3n \u00d3lafsson took up a new post as Director of Services and Development for the City of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur at the beginning of the autumn. Sigurj\u00f3n has been involved in the digital journey of many organisations and companies, managing large projects, assisting with changing their digital presence and with implementing new working methods and mindsets. His team has been busy these first few months, for instance, enhancing the flow of information to residents through online news, a podcast, and the recent launch of the Granni town map. The local newspaper Hafnfir\u00f0ingur recently spoke with Sigurj\u00f3n.<\/a>  <\/p>\n

This new department, the Service and Development Department at Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur Municipality, operates across all the council's departments, and Sigurj\u00f3n says that as its director, he is tasked with digitising the council's services. \u201eThe intention is to streamline it, make it more efficient and move more towards self-service for residents.\u201c<\/em> says Sigurj\u00f3n, who has also taken good time to get to know a large group of his colleagues, as around 2,000 people normally work for the City of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur. \u201eI've been doing a lot of meeting people, building team spirit and the team. Also, gaining a greater understanding of the incredibly diverse services that such a large local authority provides.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

Interest in people is important<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When asked what qualities are needed for a job like this, Sigurj\u00f3n replies that an interest in people, knowledge of digital media and a passion for service are important. \u201eA local council is a service organisation, and if you don't have an interest in serving people, then you're not in the right place. It's therefore important to enjoy working with people, to have an interest in a variety of subjects, and to take the time to understand things.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

The council's responsibility to mediate<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In mid-September, the Municipality of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur began production of podcasts<\/a> which Sigurj\u00f3n says is part of increasing understanding of the town's services through interviews with town staff and getting to know their side of the work. \u201eWe are putting a face and a voice to the service. In these areas, we try to have an equal gender balance, a wide age range, and cover these six areas for the town. We want to make the service more human.\u201c <\/em>He adds that some wags have called his team the news agency of the City of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, but points out that it is the responsibility of the town to provide information. \u201eThere are frequent complaints about a lack of information, and we believe it is our duty to provide regular news and information on our channels. It is becoming increasingly difficult to reach everyone through a single channel. That is why we use the City of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur's website, municipal media, social media, video media, and podcasts, and try to get coverage in the major media outlets.\u201c <\/em><\/p>\n

Slim<\/a> In-depth information portal<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Sigurj\u00f3n also mentions the importance of transparency. \u201eWe are opening up data, have open books, people can access live data on how our website is being visited and more dashboards are in preparation. We are strengthening participatory democracy through portals such as Betri Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur and we are in the process of establishing a citizens' council on the town's services. We intend to have a good dialogue with the residents and I encourage town residents to take a look. the new version of the Granna town web-camera<\/a>. It contains a wealth of information, including the town's layout, building plans, and pipe drawings, as well as details on its institutions and services, and statistical data on transport. It is an almost infinitely deep information portal.\u201c <\/em>Looking ahead, Sigurj\u00f3n and his department will be working on strategy and project prioritisation, working in teams with the involvement of experts both within and outside the municipality.. Residents should be able to handle as much as possible for themselves, and we use information technology and smart solutions to do this. The only way to do this sensibly is through good cooperation with other local authorities. This way, it is possible to coordinate and utilise knowledge and experience. There is work to be done.\u201e <\/em>Sigurj\u00f3n says in conclusion. <\/p>\n

An interview with Sigurj\u00f3n was published in Hafnfir\u00f0inginn on 19 December 2019.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sigurj\u00f3n \u00d3lafsson t\u00f3k vi\u00f0 n\u00fdju starfi sem svi\u00f0sstj\u00f3ri \u00fej\u00f3nustu og \u00fer\u00f3unar hj\u00e1 Hafnarfjar\u00f0arb\u00e6 \u00ed haustbyrjun. Sigurj\u00f3n hefur veri\u00f0 \u00fe\u00e1tttakandi \u00ed stafr\u00e6nni vegfer\u00f0 margra stofnana og fyrirt\u00e6kja og hefur st\u00fdrt st\u00f3rum verkefnum, a\u00f0sto\u00f0a\u00f0 vi\u00f0 a\u00f0 breyta stafr\u00e6nni \u00e1s\u00fdnd og vi\u00f0 a\u00f0 innlei\u00f0a n\u00fd vinnubr\u00f6g\u00f0 og hugsunarh\u00e1tt. Hans teymi hefur l\u00e1ti\u00f0 til s\u00edn taka \u00feessa fyrstu m\u00e1nu\u00f0i, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-frettir"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14087\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hafnarfjordur.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14087"}],"curies":[{"name":"WordPress","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}