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Hämeenlinna, with a population of 47.000, is the 15th largest city of Finland, located 100 km north of Helsinki. It is also the administrative center of the province of Southern Finland. Hämeenlinna is renewing the working habits and tools of its elected officials. Teamware provides efficient portal solutions to local government organizations, and was the city’s choice to provide the new portal solution. The project will be implemented in phases during year 2005.
City of Hämeenlinna had faced challenges in the operation of its political groups and organs. They felt it was time to renew the mode of operation of its boards, committees, City Council, Municipal Board, etc. The city turned to the digital world in order to identify suitable tools for the busy officials. The local council elections were held in Finland last fall, and as a result the elected officials in Hämeenlinna are younger than previously. This means they are also more accustomed to working in an electronic environment.
The elected officials of Hämeenlinna will be provided with a portal solution built on the Teamware Pl@za® platform. It will also serve as an electronic service and data system. Its key objectives will be to improve communication between the elected officials, improve their time management and flow of information, as well as provide a database regarding all decision-making.
'We are creating a whole new environment to support the work of our elected officials,' says Manager Kari Kolehmainen from City of Hämeenlinna’s development and administrative services. 'For example, we decided that Mondays are dedicated to administrative work, when all political organs meet. This frees time during the week for the officials for their other activities. Efficient time management ensures that as many officials as possible can participate in meetings and be better prepared. Thus, power is disseminated more democratically', Kolehmainen describes.
City of Hämeenlinna also uses the Teamware Office™ groupware system. In the future, it is possible to expand the elected officials' portal into an internal intranet for the municipal authorities and integrate it with the Teamware Office system. The current portal project will start off with a training session for the content providers in January, and with the launch of the virtual workspaces for the selected pilot groups. The portal will be in full use later during 2005.
Teamware’s municipal solutions are designed to improve the processes of cities, municipalities, and regions. With the updated software versions it is easy to extend a Teamware Office system into a full-fledged portal solution. Other municipal and backend solutions can be integrated to the portal solution. This applies also to the Teamware Mobile™ service for synchronizing e-mail and calendar to the mobile phone.
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