Services that matter
Annual report of the Department of Service & Innovation 2024
Director's address
The year 2024 marked another chapter in the digital journey of the Department of Service & Innovation as one of Reykjavík's core departments, and it was the first year following a major investment initiative in digital development.
After laying the foundation for modernizing digital infrastructure and services in previous years, we faced the challenge of establishing changed priorities in operations and continued service development, or in other words, implementing new procedures into the City's daily operations.
The project was challenging, especially because it involved significant staff reductions among those who had been hired for temporary positions in connection with the investment initiative.
Actions that affect people's jobs are always more complex and sensitive than others for everyone involved.
When we fully implement the model, it will increase transparency and flexibility throughout the City administration.
New operating model launched
At the same time, we made important progress by starting to roll out a new operating model designed to be fully in place by 2025.
This model outlines how operations, development, and investments work together in a coordinated way that gives the City a foundation to keep building excellent digital services for residents and infrastructure that meets future needs. The model is also designed to capture financial savings within the City administration wherever digital transformation creates them.
Reykjavík's partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, which lasted more than three years, also ended during the year and required additional staff cuts in the department. The change was substantial – by year's end, the department's staff had dropped from about 215 to roughly 170 at its lowest.
Rolling out the operating model has had mixed success, which makes sense given that this represents a pretty major shift. When we fully implement the model, it will increase transparency and flexibility throughout the City administration.
The model is essentially demand-driven, which means the needs and interest of other departments or elected officials in digital development will help determine project funding. It will also help us adjust the department's work to match whatever demand exists at any given time.
Expanded municipal partnerships
The year 2024 brought us many wins, both big and small. To highlight just a few, we took bigger and more strategic steps in municipal cooperation on digital development than ever before.
You could say we made a breakthrough in that area, with growing understanding of the opportunities that can emerge through collaboration on developing and running digital solutions. If things continue to go well, this will likely have a major impact down the road.
Another development worth noting is that the City's My Pages has grown significantly and has really become one of the core systems in the City's services. This platform has also reached the point where it's realistic to consider combining it with the My Pages of Ísland.is.
This would be a big step toward making the vision of all public services accessible in one place a reality, which would be a major improvement for service users. The City began talks with Digital Iceland about this during the year, and those discussions will continue.
We really value this recognition. It confirms that a strong work culture and positive work environment that attracts talented staff is one of the keys to our success in recent years.
Year of awards
We received several awards during the year, most notably the gold Seoul Smart City Prize for Better City for Children project, which drew considerable attention. Reykjavík was also in the spotlight at the City Lab conference in Mexico and at Smart City Expo in Barcelona.
Last but not least, the Department of Service & Innovationt earned "Great Place to Work" certification and ranked second among large workplaces as an especially good workplace for women. We really value this recognition. It confirms that a strong work culture and positive work environment that attracts talented staff is one of the keys to our success in recent years.
Asphalt or digital infrastructure
The City's digital journey continued during the year, though at a noticeably different pace than in previous years. Most people now understand that in an era of increasingly rapid technological change, it's an ongoing challenge to develop and review how services are delivered and where technology can help make them better and more accessible. We've sometimes compared digital infrastructure to asphalt: Neither asphalt nor digital infrastructure are absolutely essential to life, but both share similar characteristics despite being very different things.
Both provide quality-of-life benefits that most of us don't want to live without, and both help move information and resources between different parties, though in different ways. Both are expensive infrastructure that requires extensive planning and significant upfront investment. Both wear out and become outdated through use and therefore need ongoing maintenance and upgrades. As usage increases, both require expansion or redesign. Traffic can get jammed in both, which usually causes major disruptions. The main difference between these two is that good asphalt construction can hardly be done without digital infrastructure. On the other hand, most people love good asphalt — but they're less enthusiastic about digital infrastructure as a standalone concept.
We've also described our digital journey over recent years as often having to clear the path and pave it at the same time, but we've now reached a point where the road ahead is clearer — though we still need to strengthen the foundation to meet the demands that future technology will place on us.
At the end of 2024, those of us working in the Department of Service & Innovation increasingly recognize that we've achieved remarkable results.
Encouraging feedback
At the end of 2024, those of us working in the Department of Service & Innovation increasingly recognize that we've achieved remarkable results. This is evident in the interest and feedback from public authorities as well as large and small private companies, both domestic and international, that want to learn how we carry out various projects — everything from front-line service delivery to document management, project management, information technology organization and much more. This kind of feedback is truly encouraging and rewarding to receive when you're walking somewhat uncharted paths.