CIO50 Australia 2024: Dr Tom Gao, City of Sydney

Name: Dr Tom Gao
Title: Chief Technology and Digital Services Officer
Organisation: City of Sydney
Commenced role: June 2017
Reporting line: Director of People Performance Technology
Member of the executive team: Yes
Technology Function: 110 staff, eight direct reports
 
The City of Sydney is the governing authority for Sydney’s Central Business District and 33 surrounding suburbs. As Chief Technology and Digital Services Officer, Dr Gao has spearheaded the City’s technology team for the past two years in developing and implementing the CityConnect digital ecosystem. This initiative was born out of extensive community feedback and a strategic vision to modernise the City’s digital services.
 
Recognising the need for a user-friendly and efficient system, the City embarked on a detailed planning and development process. This involved collaboration with leading UX and Creative professionals and a thorough reengineering of business processes. This digital innovation has transformed the City of Sydney’s operations, providing seamless and personalised online services to 300,000 residents.
 
CityConnect has fully digitised 85 traditional council services, integrating multiple internal and external systems into a single, transparent platform. The platform has seen rapid adoption, processing over 170,000 new community requests and managing 45,000 financial transactions within its first six months of launch. Key innovations include a personalised community portal for real-time request tracking, smart digital forms integrated with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and automation tools that streamline workflows across various business units. CityConnect also offers a comprehensive single customer view, consolidating data across multiple channels to enhance customer service.
 
Under Dr Gao’s leadership, the CityConnect platform has improved efficiency, increased transparency, and significantly elevated the customer experience. The platform is scalable and designed for future growth, with plans to bring an additional 155 services online.
 
The development of CityConnect was driven by extensive stakeholder feedback, underscoring the need for a more user-friendly and consistent digital experience. Dr Gao effectively navigated organisational change resistance by communicating a clear vision, demonstrating value through early successes, and fostering cross-departmental collaboration. His efforts have positioned the City of Sydney as a leader in digital government services, transforming the council’s engagement with its community and setting a new standard for local government technology.