The digital transformation of Fort Worth, TX

Problem: Technological Limitations

The City of Fort Worth's previous eCouncil Mayor and Council communication (M&C) system was developed over a decade ago and required ongoing technological maintenance. The many limitations of the previous system were lessened through the city's application of support systems, creative loopholes, and additional manpower. These inefficiencies challenged the city's official goal to "become the best-managed city in the United States”, so the city conducted meetings with key users and stakeholders to discuss possible solutions.

Solution: M&C Collaboration Wizard

The $ M&C Collaboration Wizard $ was developed in a partnership between Fort Worth's $ IT Solutions Department$  and $ City Secretary's Office$ . This software was designed to reduce the time city employees spent locating, tracking, and managing M&Cs by automating workflows and improving collaboration. In order to create this improved M&C approval process, the city replaced their previous system with the $ BP Logix$  solution: $ Process Director$ . Process Director is an AI-enabled, low-code development platform for custom digital applications. According to $ Shaun Campbell$ , an IT Project Consultant for Fort Worth, this solution is a fundamental component of the city's digital transformation:

$ “Process Director is enabling the city to continue its quest to not only improve processes but navigate complicated scenarios where we are rapidly making improvements and gains that weren’t even expected."$ 

Implementation: Launching Phase One "Forms Portal"

Fort Worth's digital transformation started with a goal to reduce waste and improve response times by implementing digital, on-demand services. Phase I of this city-wide implementation "$ Forms Portal$ " launched in 2018 and it involved automating 13 major processes and nearly 400 highly used forms for approximately 7,000 users across a variety of city departments. According to $ Kevin Gunn$ , the Chief Technology Officer and IT Solutions Director for Fort Worth, this process was much more important than just going paperless:

$ "We are not simply taking paper forms and converting them to digital formats. We are evaluating our business processes to reduce errors, improve cycle times, reduce wait time and facilitate adoption."$ 

Results: Award-Winning Increases in Productivity

Implementing the M&C Collaboration Wizard increased the productivity of over 500 city employees. The average time it takes employees to process M&Cs was reduced by about four hours. Based on the volume of M&Cs processed each year, this translates to a savings of $ approximately$  4,145 hours and $103,625 annually for Fort Worth. Arguably more importantly, as $ Mary Kayser$  the City Secretary explains, this digital transformation also improved the quality of city services:

$ “Re-engineering the M&C process has made the city more responsive to its residents by reducing the time it takes to approve ordinances, resolutions, zoning cases and large purchases. The reduction in time spent to process M&Cs also freed up staff to accomplish more value-added tasks for our residents.”$ 

When it comes to measuring the impact of Fort Worth's digital transformation, the numbers truly speak for themselves. These changes to the city's business process management effectively:

1. $ Eliminated$  two-thirds of the approval touchpoints.

2. $ Reduced$  approval times by 51.5% from 18.6 days to just 9 days.

3. $ Diminished$  99.5% of the code requiring support.

4. $ Decreased$  development hours by over 89%.

In recognition of these achievements, Fort Worth has been honored with the $ 2020 Smart 50 Award for Digital Transformation$  and the $ 2019 WfMC Award for Excellence in Business Transformation.$