Planning Authority adapts to working life under COVID-19

In early March, working life at the Planning Authority was routine and for most employees started with a commute to work every morning. But coronavirus came, disruption spread and fast adaptability has been key to survival. Two months later, not only is the Authority surviving, it’s thriving.

The coronavirus has changed the way we work – possibly permanently. Debate surrounding whether or not these changes will outlive the pandemic is rife. All we know for certain is that job routines have been transformed. The virus has spurred the expansion of remote working, and companies must adapt or be left behind.

Leading the pack in Malta is the Planning Authority. Ing. Stephen Ferrito (Director for ICT, Mapping and Digital Services), David Cassar (Operations Assistant Director) and Mariela Dobreva (IT Manager) explain that in a matter of days – over a weekend to be precise – the Authority managed to switch to almost 100 per cent remote, digital work.

For the Authority, though, this shift happened after years of strategic investment in ICT. “Since about 2018, the Authority was actively working to provide tele-working and hot-desking facilities for its employees,” Cassar explains, who is responsible for establishing the Authority’s procedures that emanate from legal notices.

“This kind of change can’t happen overnight; it requires a gradual cultural shift,” adds Ing. Ferrito, who is the crucial link between the Authority’s ICT function and its operations. “We pride ourselves in being an Authority that leads in ICT. In terms of remote working, it all started with people who had certain family requirements. In 2018, we held a six-month pilot project and, since then, many employees have switched to a working-from-home setup.”

The Authority’s remote-working evolution followed in the footsteps of its drive to go paperless that had been ongoing since 2007. “Back then, we wanted to make documentation and processes easily available to Periti and the public,” Cassar recalls.

“By 2010, we’d already started improving on eApps requiring Periti to submit and access documentation electronically – thereby facilitating digital processing of planning and development applications. Without investment in ICT and data security systems, as well as the years of groundwork, we wouldn’t have been able to adapt to working during this pandemic so seamlessly.”

“When the coronavirus hit, we already had the technology required for some employees to work remotely and for applications to be processed digitally,” explains Dobreva, who heads the IT unit, “but now the scale is very different.

“Mid-March was a crazy time for us. On Thursday, 12 March, we had only 150 remote workers – and that’s when Malta realised it had a crisis on its hands. By the following Monday, we’d distributed new laptops, bought a new server and relevant software licences, and successfully set up another 230 employees to work from home.”

“This was an incredible story of teamwork,” adds Ing. Ferrito. “It was our in-house ICT team’s initiative – they came up with the solution, mostly using tools already available to us, and rolled it out in days. If it weren’t for their knowledge, skills and forethought, we wouldn’t have managed. The transition has been a time of learning, adjustment and troubleshooting as employees get accustomed to new routines and tech equipment.”

Then came the Authority’s decision for Planning Board sessions to go digital rather than be stalled. From the public’s perspective, this has been transformative. Rather than meeting in person to decide on development applications, the Boards now meet online – and the public can also join the online conference. In so doing, the Authority has maintained accessibility to the Boards, thereby ensuring transparency around deliberations and decisions boosting its accessibility.

According to Cassar, “This would have been impossible were it not for the Authority’s insistence on having our systems programmed by an in-house development team, rather than being externally sourced.”

“We often get asked about the tangible benefits of investing in IT,” continues Ms Dobreva, “because it’s sometimes seen as the funnelling of money into an insurance that you’re not using; but, ultimately, it will save you. At the Authority, we weren’t prepared because we knew Covid-19 was coming; we were prepared because we invested in a sector that strengthens the core of our business.”

“It was our robust team of in-house programmers and hardware support experts that enabled us to act so quickly,” reiterates Ing. Ferrito. “Because of this, for the most part, the Authority’s work hasn’t been disrupted, and we’re witnessing encouraging and progressive change.

“Without Periti, applicants and our employees driving to the Authority and getting stuck in traffic, everyone is saving that precious resource: time. And that’s without even mentioning the positive environmental impact. The system is of course not without its problems, like occasional technical issues, but the alternative of our work grinding to a halt wasn’t an option.”

The pandemic is proving to be a tipping point for the digital transformation of the workplace. The question is, will the drive to ‘go digital’ be shelved once the emergency subsides? While it is still early days for the Authority to declare what the new ‘business as usual’ will look like, Ing. Ferrito asserts that there are lessons to be carried forward.

“During this pandemic, the Authority has successfully continued its primary business, but working entirely remotely in the long term is unsustainable. However, we’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response to our online Board sessions – particularly from Periti. So, personally, I see no reason why we can’t develop a hybrid system.

“At the Authority, our tech vision since 2007 has been to adopt the latest technology to increase efficiency and give a better service to our clients. Now, through our online Boards and e-systems, we’re also becoming increasingly accessible to all stakeholders. Most importantly, though, our ICT investments make us more transparent to the public – and this will definitely continue,” Ing. Ferrito Ferrito concludes.