A Case Study of City of Kuala Lumpur...

©City Hall of Kuala Lumpur, 2003 of 13

THE APPLICATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY (ICT) TOWARD GOOD URBAN GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

A case study of City of Kuala Lumpur Integrated Public Complaint Centre System

Presented by Tan Peng Heng City Hall of Kuala Lumpur

Abstract Good urban governance inevitably requires an effective role to be played by local governments. The criteria for good urban governance that have been commonly accepted by which local governments are judged comprise major characteristics such as their participation in the welfare of their citizens, responsiveness to demands of their citizens, transparency of their administration, accountability, the effectiveness of their programmes and their efficiency. Thus local authorities are judged by the extent of their responsiveness, accountability, fairness, effectiveness and efficiency. As such, local authorities continually need to improve and change their approach to city management to better meet the high expectations of their citizens. Currently the employment of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is seen as an evolving approach to better urban governance especially in the management of public problems. The rapid development and use of Information and Communication Technology has contributed positively to the improvement of good governance, as in the case of City Hall of Kuala Lumpur. In line with policies set out in the City Hall’s Information Strategic Plan, various ICT programs are being or are about to be implemented. This paper will highlight the implementation of an E-governance project for the administration of an integrated public complaint centre system in the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur. Introduction The City Hall of Kuala Lumpur is the local authority for the administration and development of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. Beyond administrating municipal functions, City Hall also develops and provides the infrastructure and amenities for the promotion of a vibrant and liveable habitat and environment for its citizens. It aims to be the regional hub for financial and economic activities as well as being the centre of the national tourism industry. It also aims to have a population of knowledge based society. The population of the city is about 2 million. Currently, one of the challenges faced by the City Hall is the management of public complaints for a wide variety of problems faced by the city dwellers. These complaints cover a wide spectrum of issues that include matters on environment, public facilities, cleanliness, emergency cases, licenses, social problems, trees, animals, public housing, drainage, the arts, morality and others. On average, the City Hall receives from 250 to 350 complaints monthly. To improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of handling these complaints, the City Hall decided to implement the Kuala Lumpur Integrated Public Complaint Centre System.


The Kuala Lumpur Integrated Public Complaint Centre System (KL – IPCC) The Kuala Lumpur Integrated Public Complaint Centre System provides integrated management functions between all the departments in the City Hall in the handling of public complaints. Some departments have 24-hour operation centres to deal with emergencies such as those caused by flash floods and storms and other public matters that require immediate action. The Public and International Affairs Unit of City Hall is responsible for the receiving, communicating and coordination with the responsible departments on matters relating to these public complaints. The major objectives of the system are:

a) To provide a platform of communication between City Hall and the citizens of Kuala Lumpur in the promotion of e-governance with the perspective of being a responsive, transparent, accountable, effective and efficient city authority.

b) To provide an integrated management between all the departments in the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur in the handling of public complaints to better meet the expectations of the citizens.

c) To provide an electronic and paperless environment through a centralised computer system.

d) To provide an integrated service with Information and Communication Technology that is in line with the Government of Malaysia’s policy of E-Government.

Types of Input to the System The system receives various forms of input such as:

i) Complaints ii) Applications iii) Queries iv) Suggestions or ideas on improvement of services

Types of Complaints All sort of complaints are received through the system. Generally, these complaints are broadly categorized into 13 categories namely

i) Environment ii) Animal iii) Obstruction iv) Cleanliness v) Public Facilities vi) Emergency Cases vii) Social Problems viii) Licenses ix) Planning and Development


x) Public Housing xi) Tree xii) Drainage xiii) Others

Besides complaints, the system also receives queries and suggestions and even applications, mainly for licences. Queries are attended to and applications are rerouted to the respective department concerned. Suggestions and ideas are filed for consideration and will aid in the planning of future developments and improvements of services. Media of Input to the System Input to the system comes through various channels such as:

i) Telephone ii) City Web Portal iii) E-mail iv) Facsimiles v) Letters vi) Radio programmes vii) Face-to-face meetings viii) Newspapers

The Backend Integrated Computerized System The heart of the Public Complaint Centre System is an integrated backend, computerized system connected to computer network infrastructure linking together the various departments of the City Hall. The system uses an IBM eServer x232 as Application Server model and an IBM eServer x220 as Communication Gateway.. The software that are being used by the system consists of Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Macromedia Cold Fusion Professional V5.0 Application Server Software, Crystal Decision Crystal Report V8.5 Report Generation Software, Pervasive 2000i Relational Database Management Server Software, Trend Viruswall Gateway Antivirus Software, Sonork Instant Messaging v1.7 Software.The system was implemented and went ‘live’ on 1 March 2003. Currently, the system is running very smoothly. The city dwellers can log in their complaints through the city web portal (http://www.dbkl.gov.my) that is available and accessible for 24 hours a day everyday. The public can submit complaints, applications, queries and suggestions. A snapshot of the input screen is shown.


Processing of Public Complaints All complaints are vetted for validity. A reference number will be generated and the complaints routed to the responsible departments automatically for action or feedback. On-line notification in the form of a standard letter or e-mail will be sent to complainant as an acknowledgement. Other forms of non-portal complaints will be attended to manually and immediately fed into the backend system. They will then be similarly routed to the responsible departments automatically for action or feedback. Investigation and Remedial Action by departments Officers-in-charge in the responsible department will decide on the priority of the complaint e.g. normal or urgent. Investigations will then be carried out and the necessary remedial actions taken. An update will be made into the system by the responsible department to record the status of actions and an automatic response will be sent to the complainant. This i-message facility in the system allows the officers in the departments to easily communicate interactively with each other, with the Public Relations Department and with the complainant.


Reports generated by System – User Queries Various types of report can be displayed and printed by the system. Reports can also be generated through the search and query facility. On the Search and Query Screen, reports can be displayed according to:

i) Reference number ii) Name of complainant iii) Categories and types of complaint iv) Zones and sub-zones v) Department responsible for complaints vi) Priority vii) Channel media of the complaints

A snapshot of the search and query screen is shown here:

Other reports generated by the System - On-line statistical reports can be displayed and printed according to criteria as follows:

i) Total complaints by month ii) Ethnic group of complainants


iii) Input channels e.g. radio, city web portal, etc iv) Categories of complainant – individual or company v) Categories and types of complaints in each department vi) Categories according to zones vii) Efficiency of problem-solving by input channels viii) Breakdown on types of complaints by departments ix) Efficiency of problem-solving by departments x) Annual efficiency of problem-solving by departments

A snapshot of the online statistics reports screen:

Some examples of the reports being displayed are shown here: a) Report showing output by categories of complainant – individual or corporate


b) Report by zones

c) Report showing total complaints through various input channels.

d) Reports by departments


e) Reports by categories and types of complaints

f) Reports by types of complaints in each department


g) Reports by ethnic group

h) Reports by efficiency of problem-solving by department

Other on-line reports Examples shown here: a) Pie Chart on statistic by input channels


b) List of complainants by zone or area

STATISTIK ADUAN MENGIKUT SALURAN (Bulan 10/2003)


Alert Reports Reports with alerts of outstanding problems differentiated by colour indicators to indicate the number of days outstanding is also available. Shown on the table at the bottom right of the screen are statistics on the status on the complaints. I-messaging facility for officers-in-charge to communicate with each other in the departments can be seen on the bottom left of the screen.

Summary Reports Categories and types of complaints Types of input – complaints,queries,etc


status of complaints zones or areas

Assessment on Performance of System The following is an assessment based on feedback from (i) the public and (ii) the factors stated below showing a comparison of data before and after implementation of the system.

Factors Before After

Volume of complaints. 3,096 (12 months - 2002)

2338 (6 months: 1.3.03 -30.9.03)

pro-rata increase due to public awareness/

responsiveness

Public Relations Dept. escalate complaints to all

departments.

1 - 2 days

(Telephone /Memo/Letter)

Immediate

Efficiency of problem solving.

Manual compilations of statistics

Centralised database with automatic tracking of life

history of cases logged into the system and provide

alerts

Management reports. 2 - 3 days(Needed compilations) Immediate

Monitoring of status of complaints.

Manual process by individual departments

Centralized and real-time

reports


Challenges and Lessons learned Some complaints received by the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur may not be resolved in a short time. Examples are those issues that involve other governmental agencies or that may have legal implications. Others may require the approval of budget and also those that need new developments. The City Hall of Kuala Lumpur will update the complainants on the status of the progress on the matter concerned. Like the saying, “It is the little things that can break up a marriage”, the City Hall takes public complaints seriously even though they may appear to be trivial matters. All valid complaints will be attended to promptly. The City Hall of Kuala Lumpur publishes a monthly city news bulletin that is also accessible through the City Web Portal, to inform the public of the role and efforts taken by City Hall to improve the city urban services. One factor that contributes to the successful implementation of ICT projects in local authorities like the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur is the personal commitment of individuals involved in the project from senior management to front line personnel and also the technical support team. Another contributing factor is the adequate ICT skill and knowledge of the general staff as well as the competent technical capability of the ICT support personnel. To ensure the smooth transfer of knowledge, training and education had been be included as part of the implementation plan of this project. Furthermore, the City Hall, through its own training centre, regularly conducts IT courses to update the ICT skills and knowledge of the general staff. There is also a contractual agreement to ensure knowledge transfer from the implementation consultant to ICT support personnel in the City Hall. Other key factors that have to be considered are factors like data availability, data security, infrastructure adequacy and management requirements. Management requirements meant the inclusion of the management reports and statistics that will aid in planning and decision-making process. Data security required the setting up of a protection system, specifically a firewall for protection against viruses and hackers. Infrastructure adequacy took the form of a reliable and high-speed network infrastructure linking together the various departments of the City Hall. Data availability meant a study of the information that was needed, matched against what was currently available through the various sources and designing the system to capture the missing segments of data and integrating all the data. Conclusion In conclusion, the Kuala Lumpur Integrated Public Complaint Centre System is a successful project. The City Hall of Kuala Lumpur received positive feedbacks from the public. The public is happier because the system is citizen friendly, responsive and is accessible 24 hours. They no longer tend to “sensationalise” their complaints through the various public media like the press, radio and television. The citizens prefer to use the telephone or the city web portal because of the City Hall’s greater accessibility. There is a more efficient and effective handling of public complaints. A better image of City Hall of Kuala Lumpur is projected and a closer rapport is established with the public. The system forms a good forum for the receiving of suggestions that will aid in the planning of city development and administration.

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