Located on an island in the fork of the Fraser River where it empties into the Georgia Straight, the city of Richmond, British Columbia, is positioned just 3 feet (about 1 meter) above sea level.
When you live in a 50-square-mile (129-square-kilometer) metropolis on an island just 3 feet (about 1 meter) above sea level, your city's emergency IT infrastructure must be as reliable as the sun coming up in the east.
Welcome to the city of Richmond, British Columbia, where the threat of flooding is countered with an elaborate pumping system and HP technology.
From Compaq Evo desktops to HP iPAQ pocket PCs, HP-UX and IA-32 servers and printers, HP technology is helping this Canadian government serve more than 160,000 residents with a wireless safety net that protects the island city from flooding and provides a host of Web-accessible services.
HP products — and a 34-member IT staff that supports the city's 1,600 employees — are helping Richmond realize its vision "to be the most appealing, livable and well-managed community in Canada."
The city has "taken extraordinary steps to put customer service as one of its main focus points to make sure residents are getting as much as they possibly can — whether it's through technology or our parks, trails or community centers," said John Lindberg, Richmond's director of Information Technology.
Surfing for services
Online registration for swimming classes and reserving ice time at city skating facilities are just a couple examples of the city's Web-based community services. Residents may also pay parking tickets and library fines, as well as read City Council meeting minutes on the Web.
"We've tried to make [the city website] into our virtual City Hall so people don't have to get in their cars and drive down here but can do most of their business from home or from a terminal," Lindberg explained.
About 75 percent of Richmond residents have PCs and can access the Internet. Kiosks in libraries and City Hall provide other residents a similar opportunity. The Web-based community services program — which runs on Compaq Evo-based kiosks and HP servers — is saving time and money for residents.
Providing a safety net
HP technology helps Richmond monitor its emergency response efforts and powers its Web-based services system.
Residents in Richmond rely on a system of dams, drainage ditches, 180 pumping stations and HP technology to keep water off the island.
Previously, the monitoring system required city employees to drive from pumping station to pumping station to look for a flashing red light that indicated possible danger. Today, many city engineers are equipped with HP iPAQ pocket PCs and Evo notebooks to help monitor the system and make necessary adjustments.
HP hardware is the perfect complement to the wireless supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system installed in 2001, which delivers data on each pumping station to a central control room through a private radio frequency.
Achieving the vision
Of course, efficiency is a high priority for this well-managed city. "Thanks in part to HP technology, we've been able to give better service and we've found that our staffing levels are quite a bit lower than most municipalities," Lindberg said.
Bill Whyman, computer technologist for the city, thinks the Evo PC is easier to maintain and smaller than competitor desktops. "It's much easier on the technician because it's lighter and doesn't take up much space," he said.
"Style is important, too," added Maarten Veerman, manager of Richmond Technical Services. "When people see the new Evo PCs, they generally want one for themselves."
Richmond is equipped with Compaq EVO desktops, HP iPAQ pocket PCs, HP-UX and IA-32 servers and printers.
HP iPAQ Pocket PCs are the handhelds most requested by city staff, in part because of the tight integration with the Evo PCs. Staff members go to meetings with their calendars updated so they can schedule meetings at any moment. They can also download unread e-mail messages to their iPAQ to read during breaks.
"We're experimenting with downloading GIS (Geographic Information Systems) maps onto the iPAQ Pocket PCs," Veerman said. "I don't think you can really do that with the Palm Pilot."
HP printers are another IT staple in Richmond. "We trust HP printers," Lindberg said.
The city is standardized on the 25-page-per-minute LaserJet 4100, and uses two HP LaserJet 9000 models for printing property tax statements. "They are super quick," Whyman stated.
On top of being hailed as a great place to live by residents, the city of Richmond has also been recognized as one of Canada's top 100 employers for 2002 by Toronto-based Mediacorp Canada Inc. in Maclean's magazine.
Edward Hung, Richmond's manager of Advanced Research & Technologies, believes technology has contributed to the city's success. "We're very innovative about leveraging up-and-coming technology — especially HP technology," he said.
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