Project Overview
Community Engagement System (CES): Transforming Digital Civic Participation
The City of Sydney's Community Engagement System represents a breakthrough in digital government innovation, addressing critical barriers that prevented meaningful community participation in local decision-making. Launched in October 2024, CES transforms how Australia's largest city engages with its 231,000 residents, 79,000 businesses, and 600,000+ daily workers and visitors.
Traditional consultation methods created significant obstacles including poor awareness, participation barriers, and trust deficits where citizens felt their input disappeared without visible impact. CES addresses these challenges through an integrated digital ecosystem combining custom-built tools with proven enterprise platforms.
The system features co-designed Community Ideas Boards enabling collaborative public dialogue, Quick Polls for anonymous participation, and personalised dashboards tracking consultation history. Integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 creates unified customer views, while AI-powered sentiment analysis through Thematic transforms weeks of manual processing into actionable insights delivered within hours.
Since launch, measurable outcomes demonstrate success: 58% of participants report easier engagement, over 900 individuals and organisations have participated across 75 consultations, and processing times reduced from weeks to hours. The transparent Community Ideas Board allows the community to view and respond to others' contributions, while personalised dashboards provide real-time status updates on projects they've influenced.
CES sets new benchmarks for digital civic engagement by reducing administrative burden, enhancing transparency, and fostering genuine community partnerships. Its scalable, replicable framework positions it as a best-practice model for local governments seeking to modernise democratic engagement while building stronger, more responsive relationships with the community.
Organisation
Team
The Innovative Team Behind the Community Engagement System's Digital Transformation
The Community Engagement System was developed by the City of Sydney's Technology & Digital Services team, a multidisciplinary group of digital innovation specialists committed to transforming civic engagement through human-centred design and cutting-edge technology.
Leadership and Vision
Led by Chief Technology & Digital Services Officer Dr. Tom Gao, the team operates under a strategic vision that positions digital transformation as a fundamental enabler of responsive, transparent governance. Dr. Gao's leadership emphasises technology's role in empowering communities and strengthening democratic participation rather than simply automating existing processes.
Cross-Functional Expertise
The core project team brought together diverse capabilities essential for comprehensive digital transformation. IT Business Analyst Cheng Zhu coordinated business requirements and technical requirements with community needs in mind. Development Lead Eric Xu architected the technical infrastructure and overall solution, ensuring seamless integration across multiple platforms. IT Project Manager Kylie Martin provided strategic oversight and managed delivery timelines and stakeholder coordination.
Collaborative Approach
Recognising that effective civic technology requires deep community understanding, the team collaborated extensively with City Engagement Managers Kristina Kalnins and Leonie Hancock, ensuring community perspectives informed every design decision. Digital Innovation Program Manager Michaela Upton provided strategic guidance on emerging technologies and user experience best practices.
Innovation Philosophy
The team's approach emphasises co-design methodologies, leveraging community input throughout development rather than imposing top-down solutions. This collaborative philosophy resulted in genuine user-centred design, evidenced by 58% of participants reporting improved engagement experiences.
Sustainable Capability Building
By developing CES primarily in-house while strategically partnering with offshore development and testing resources, the team ensured knowledge retention and long-term sustainability. This approach maximised return on investment while building internal capabilities that support ongoing innovation and platform evolution.
The team's commitment to accessibility, transparency, and democratic engagement has established new standards for digital government innovation across Australia.
Project Brief
Revolutionising Democracy Through Digital Innovation
Imagine a city where every voice matters, where community engagement isn't limited by geography, time constraints, or bureaucratic barriers. The City of Sydney's Community Engagement System (CES) transforms this vision into reality, creating Australia's most advanced digital civic participation platform that empowers over 900,000 residents, workers, and visitors to shape their urban future.
In just months since launch, CES has transformed traditional consultation limitations, enabling 900+ participants to engage across 76 consultations through intuitive digital tools that make civic participation as simple as social media interaction. This isn't just another government website—it's a democratic revolution powered by AI-driven insights, real-time community dialogue, and transparent decision-making processes.
The Challenge: Traditional consultation methods created awareness gaps, participation barriers, and trust deficits that silenced community voices and weakened democratic processes.
The Solution: An integrated ecosystem combining custom-built Community Ideas Boards, barrier-free Quick Polls, and AI-powered sentiment analysis that transforms weeks of manual processing into actionable insights delivered within hours.
The Impact: 58% of participants report dramatically easier engagement, while processing times reduced from weeks to hours. Real-time transparency through personalised dashboards and public dialogue spaces rebuilds trust between citizens and government.
CES represents the future of digital democracy—scalable, inclusive, and transformative for local communities.
Project Need
Bridging the Digital Democracy Gap
Local governments worldwide face a critical crisis in civic engagement—traditional consultation methods systematically exclude diverse voices while creating administrative burdens that delay responsive decision-making. Research consistently shows that conventional approaches fail modern communities, with citizens expressing frustration over awareness gaps, participation barriers, and trust deficits where input seemingly disappears into bureaucratic black holes.
The Community Engagement System addresses this democratic deficit through innovation that transforms civic participation from a bureaucratic exercise into dynamic community dialogue. Unlike standalone consultation tools that perpetuate fragmentation, CES creates the first truly integrated civic engagement ecosystem specifically designed for local government needs.
Novel Innovations
- Co-designed Community Ideas Boards enable real-time public dialogue where citizens can view, agree with, or build upon others' contributions, fostering collaborative democracy previously impossible in traditional consultations
- AI-powered sentiment analysis revolutionises government responsiveness by transforming weeks of manual processing into actionable insights delivered within hours
- Dedicated Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM app developed for internal staff to centrally manage all consultation feedback, linked to each community member's CRM profile.
Market-Leading Outcomes:
The platform delivers measurable democratic enhancement: 58% improved engagement satisfaction, 900+ active participants across 76 consultations, and processing time reductions from weeks to hours. CES establishes new benchmarks for transparent, efficient civic participation that strengthens the fundamental relationship between citizens and their local government.
User Experience
Human-Centred Design Meets Democratic Innovation
The CES breakthrough stems from a profound understanding of community needs rather than technological novelty alone. Through extensive qualitative research involving direct community interviews, the team discovered that 79% of residents wanted consolidated online civic engagement, yet existing tools created more barriers than solutions.
Understanding Market Needs: The revelation wasn't about lacking technology—it was recognising that the community felt unheard, frustrated by repetitive processes, and sceptical about genuine impact. Traditional consultation methods reflected internal government structures rather than user journeys, creating fragmented experiences across multiple disconnected platforms.
Project Marketing
Building Trust Through Transparent Engagement
CES marketing strategy prioritised authentic community connection over traditional government promotion, recognising that community trust required demonstrable value rather than promotional messaging. The approach focused on showcasing real user experiences and transparent outcomes to build credibility organically.
User Experience-Driven Marketing: Rather than pushing adoption, the team emphasised intuitive design and immediate value delivery. The platform's self-evident benefits—personalised dashboards, streamlined participation, and visible community dialogue—became the primary marketing tools. Users naturally shared positive experiences, with 58% reporting easier engagement serving as authentic testimonials.
Project Privacy
Building Digital Trust Through Secure Civic Participation
Privacy protection became a cornerstone of CES design, addressing fundamental community concerns about data security in digital government services. Recognising that civic engagement requires sensitive personal information sharing, the team implemented comprehensive privacy safeguards that exceed standard government requirements while maintaining user convenience.
Robust Security Architecture: Two-factor authentication through Microsoft Entra ID ensures secure access while preventing unauthorised data access. This enterprise-grade security builds community confidence in sharing personal information, addressing previous concerns about government data handling.
Transparent Data Governance: Clear communication about data usage, storage practices, and access controls enables informed community participation. Users understand exactly how their information is protected and utilised, fostering trust through transparency rather than obscurity.
Privacy-Preserving Participation Options: Anonymous Quick Polls provide barrier-free engagement for privacy-conscious community members, while authenticated experiences offer enhanced features for those comfortable sharing more information. This flexible approach accommodates diverse privacy preferences across the community.
Community Benefits: Enhanced data protection enables more confident participation, with community members feeling secure about contributing sensitive feedback on local issues. The platform's privacy-first design has contributed to 900+ active participants, demonstrating that robust security measures actually enhance rather than hinder civic engagement. Community members can focus on meaningful participation rather than worrying about data misuse, strengthening democratic dialogue.
Digital - Government Services
The provision of timely government services has been transformed as applications and sites are developed and implemented to either replace or complement previous methods. Be it the delivery of current and up to date critical information, compliance, community support and engagement, notification and registration or providing greater accessibility to government resources.
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