You can't have collaboration without a collaborator. Before Lac
Carling X, there was no national organization with a mandate to
serve as a municipal voice in collaboration with other levels of
government to advance the cause of citizen-centred service.
Now there are two.
One represents municipal IT organizations; the other, service
delivery executives.
And both are being welcomed by officials at other levels of
government.
The Board of Directors of MISA/ASIM Canada, or Municipal
Information Systems Association/Association des systC(mes
d'information municipale Canada (www.misa-asim.ca), was
introduced at the opening of Lac Carling X.
This was the third year in a row when Lac Carling was the site
of significant events for this organization.
At the 2004 Congress, municipal delegates agreed to create an
Interim executive, which crafted a statement, objectives and bylaws
for the national association.
In 2005, representatives of five regional organizations - the
four chapters of MISA, plus the RC)seau de l'informatique municipale
du QuC)bec (RIMQ) - formally endorsed the By-laws and Operations
Manual and agreed to ask their organizations to join.
This year the five independent organizations, now officially
members of MISA/ASIM Canada, met the day before the official
opening of the 2006 Congress, elected four officers from among the
10-member Board of Directors and decided that their annual meeting
will take place each year during the Lac Carling Congress.
President Kevin Peacock, branch manager of Corporate Information
Services for the City of Saskatoon, told participants that the new
board has already decided to pursue two collaborative projects: to
redevelop the Municipal Reference Model as a means of helping all
levels of government to speak in a common language about programs
and services, and to develop municipal ideas for identity
management, authentication and authorization on a national
scale.
The second new municipal organization is modelled on MISA/ASIM
Canada but has not yet been formally launched.
It had its genesis at the 2006 Municipal Service Delivery
Officials Conference, organized by the City of Ottawa and held
there May 8-10, attended by 43 delegates representing 33
municipalities.
At the instigation of conference chair Philip Clarke, director
of Ottawa's Client Services and Public Information Branch,
delegates agreed to form regional networking organizations. Five
networks are envisioned: British Columbia and Alberta, Prairies,
Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
Like MISA/ASIM Canada, the new organization, tentatively called
the Municipal Service Delivery Officials Network, is represented on
the Joint Councils.
Two representatives from MISA/ASIM Canada sit on the Public
Sector CIO Council, while three participants in the
service-delivery network - Joni Mines of Edmonton and Cathy Mellett
of Halifax, plus Clarke - sit on the Public Sector Service Delivery
Council.
Clarke said the network intends to work with MISA/ASIM Canada
and other levels of government to address universal issues such as
authentication, and will be contributing to the municipal presence
at future Lac Carlings.
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