Part 1
2020’s not quite back on track
Towards the end of 2019, there was optimism that 2020 would see a draw down in the trade war between the United States and China that would help get global economic growth back on track.
The emergence of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and prolonged bushfires that devastated large parts of Australia’s rural and regional communities have brought to the public’s attention significant challenges that must be solved by government in order to ensure that we build sustainable communities that thrive in terms of economic, social and environmental outcomes.
Our mindset when working with local governments has centred around the Smart Cities agenda. i.e. How do we help councils use digital technologies to innovate and build digital services for a generation that’s used to AirBnB and Uber?
The events over the first 2 months of 2020 however are big wake-up call that which makes us reflect on the big challenges our government leaders are tasked with solving. Issues which we may have underestimated their urgency and consequnce.
Here’s what we think the biggest challenges driven by mega-trends facing local governments are in the years ahead
1. Preventing & mitigating the effects of climate change and extreme weather
NSW experienced 240 continuous days of rural fire activity, for the first time since July 2019 there’s finally no more active bush or grass fires. Councils are increasingly required to manage the risk to critical infrastructure and the community from extreme weather.
2. The impact of urbanisation and globalisation on public health
How we live and how we farm is creating fertile conditions for global-scale public health issues. As a result of global economic integration and travel, these issues are not national issues and require global solutions covering both humans and animals.
Councils need to be more prepared than before in the areas of pandemic response, health service availability, waste removal and council continuity in the event of major incidents.
For example, councils are responsible for both notifying the public of health risks as well as keeping footfall traffic up in order to support local businesses.
3. Energy (& transport) transition
Globally there is a gradual transition towards low-carbon societies and economies. Councils will need to review their energy & transport infrastructure to cater for the adoption of electric cars, energy storage, low energy streetlights and carbon-efficient public transport. Importantly councils play a crucial role in building efficienct governance and can offer commercial incentives for energy efficiency. According to the ICLEI Australian Local Government Climate review 2018, the majority of councils have no dedicated budget allocated to climate related initiatives. (This will need to change.)
4. Disruptive effects of digital technology and automation
Digital technology & automation is already starting to disrupt how we live and work. The growth of ecommerce and automation has already started to effect retail.
Food delivery services and video streaming services mean more people eat at home and don’t visit the cinema. These will all play into changes of how commercial and public space is utilised. For example, the role of a library has greatly evolved over the past decade.
5. The sharing economy
The sharing economy is here to stay; ride-sharing (Uber, Lime), co-working (WeWork) and co-living (AirBnB). Councils need to ensure that they can provide services to their customers who may not be direct rate payers or fines to people that don’t own cars.
If local governments work with commercial organisations, then the community can be the beneficiary of a greater pace of public-private service delivery (one can argue all services are a result of public-private collaboration).
This is in contrast to regulation acting as an impediment and governments acting as late acceptors of innovation.
6. Socio-demographic shifts
We all know that developed economies all face aging populations and the views of boomers vary greatly from the millennials that are now reaching adulthood.
As we covered in our previous article millennials are increasingly demanding action on the issues they see themselves inheriting as our society’s next set of leaders and have demonstrated that they are capable of using digital technologies to organise efforts to champion the causes which they believe in.
Australia is a multi-cultural nation of migrants and globally we are seeing a trend towards geo-political instability. Councils will have a growing role in ensuring social cohesion while catering for cultural and demographical differences.
So what can be done?
Check back here later for the next instalment where we will discuss the role of innovation and digital technology in helping to solve the biggest challenges our society and governments face.
We welcome your thoughts and comments below, or if you want to provide input into our future work, please get in touch with our team.
Blog by:
Alan Hsiao