Transparency and Accountability in Local Governments, with Teresa Harding

In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast I have a fantastic conversation with Teresa Harding, the Mayor of Ipswich City in QLD, Australia. Teresa tells us about her varied background in the Defence Force, small business and IT, and her dual passion for local communities and veterans affairs. We discuss what sparked her interest in Smart concepts and why it's so important to have a balance of logic and creativity, vision and implementation in our Smart Communities. Teresa then tells us about the work Ipswich Council has done this year on setting up a Transparency and Integrity Hub to ensure trust is rebuilt with citizens and the local government is held accountable. Teresa tells us about this Hub works, the feedback they're getting on it and the benefits of adopting open data practices into local government. We also discuss how Ipswich integrates across disciplines, governments and industries and their plans for continued community engagement and a more participatory approach to policy planning. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of digital inclusion and improved local government customer service, plus the importance of diversity at our civic and government decision making process. As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Teresa via email mayor@ipswich.qld.gov.au or on social media either on Facebook or LinkedIn Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.