Cardinia Shire Council has made the 2018 AFR Most Innovative Companies List
Today, Cardinia Shire Council was honoured to be recognised as one of Australia and New Zealand’s Most Innovative Companies.
The prestigious annual list, published by The Australian Financial Review, is based on a rigorous assessment process managed by Australia’s leading innovation consultancy, Inventium, in conjunction with a panel of industry expert judges.
The full Top 100 list can be viewed at https://goo.gl/fCezf9
Council ranked #77 on the overall list and was the only local government body to make the top 100, from over 1,000 nominated organisations across Australia and New Zealand. The assessment measures a top innovation implemented in the past twelve months.
Specifically, the judges look at how valuable the problem is that the innovation is solving, the quality and uniqueness of the solution, and the level of impact that the innovation has had.
Inventium assesses internal elements such as innovation culture, strategy, resources and process, which demonstrate a sustainable and repeatable approach to innovation.
Cardinia Shire Mayor Cr Collin Ross said Council was proud to be recognised for the adoption of innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, which automates the management of all Council’s incoming correspondence.
“It’s exciting and rewarding to have been listed on the 2018 Most Innovative Companies List thanks to Inventium and the Australian Financial Review. Congratulations to the amazing staff for their passion and always striving to be more innovative and more effective!” Cr Ross said.
The system, developed and provided by eCloud Business Services, runs all incoming mail and accounts payable invoices through multiple algorithms, which read, assess and then allocate the correspondence into the document management system.
“The AI technology is self-learning, which means the automated process is always improving and becoming more efficient. This automated process is currently saving the organisation over 80 hours of work per week, reducing the cost to process mail and improving data quality,” Cr Ross said.
CEO Inventium, Dr Amantha Imber said the field of entrants for the 2018 AFR Most Innovative Companies list was the highest quality they have seen in seven years of judging the list.
“Making the 2018 list is a massive achievement and signals that the organisation is not only producing highly impactful innovations, but also has a sustainable approach to growth,” said Dr Imber.