Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) NSW and CHIA Victoria have teamed up to launch a Digital Transformation project and are now calling for CHPs in each state to join an Industry Steering Group.
Background
CHIA NSW is thrilled to be working with CHIA Vic and grateful for the funding support from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and Victorian Governments as well as the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) on what will be an innovative and valuable step forward for the sector.
With the community housing sector still a relatively small market segment in the eyes of major technology players and providers, there is work to be done to develop digital technologies to increase the efficiency of CHPs’ operations and enhance the service they provide to vulnerable people, many of whom are marginalised in the digital divide.
New digital technologies (like mobile platforms, tenant portals, e-payment options and many more) can be a catalyst for change and will improve service delivery by supporting CHPs to interact with tenants through additional, more efficient channels. The project will take into account the needs of all tenants, regardless of access or ability to use technology.
Giving tenants the ability to conduct more self-service (like logging repairs and maintenance requests) will allow providers to work with a more mobile workforce, increasing efficiency and freeing up time and resources to focus on engaging with their tenants in meaningful ways.
The project comes after scoping workshops with CHPs which showed a shared interest in working collectively to better understand and develop technological capabilities across the sector. It aims to support organisations to understand their future IT needs and available solutions and to develop plans to upgrade IT infrastructure in order to improve the client experience, ensure data quality, improve cyber security and increase efficiency by eliminating manual processes and double handling.
Provider representatives needed
A critical element of the project is developing a CHP-led Industry Steering Group made up of three providers from NSW and three from Victoria. The Steering Group is an important opportunity to provide an industry voice to the project and shape its direction. CHIA NSW and Victoria are seeking reference group members with an interest and experience in technology to provide expert strategic input into the group. The group is expected to meet quarterly between now and November.
CHIA NSW and CHIA Vic are encouraging providers of any size with IT experience to express interest to join the group and provide invaluable industry-perspectives on the work. You can express interest by emailing [email protected].
Project plan
The project includes four stages: strategy phase; digital transformation phase; consortium based approaches phase; and cyber security phase. The key aims and deliverables of the project are listed below:
- Develop a detailed and community housing specific digital transformation process map for the community housing industry. The process map will be based on:
- A baseline stocktake of CHPs’ digital channel capabilities to be conducted through a self-assessment process based on a template to be developed by the project consultants. This will provide an update to the technological capability survey conducted in 2017 under the Technology Mapping IDS project.
- A sector visioning process that will establish the industry’s long-term objectives for digital transformation.
- Detailed persona and journey mapping to identify the needs and technical requirements for different client[1] and staff personas. These personas will be able to be adapted and updated by each CHP as necessary. CHIA NSW will work with the industry reference group and the digital network to select personas for this aspect of the project.
- Develop an implementation guide that CHPs can use to inform their specific digital transformation plans.
Additional information and contact details
This project would not have been possible without funding from the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice & Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety, as well as the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC). CHIA NSW thanks all parties for their support.
For more information or to express interest in joining the Industry Steering Group, contact Business Development Manager Adam West at [email protected].
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