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Denver's Virtual Transformation of Emergency Operations Center Amid Pandemic
Technology Category
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Virtual Private Cloud
- Robots - Wheeled Robots
Applicable Industries
- Cities & Municipalities
- Telecommunications
Use Cases
- Search & Rescue
- Smart City Operations
The Challenge
On March 13, 2020, Denver’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) faced an unprecedented challenge. The EOC, which is accustomed to responding to emergencies such as blizzards, floods, and power outages, had to quickly adapt to the new reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. The city officials sent workers home, including those on the EOC, as part of the government’s stay-at-home response to the pandemic. The challenge was to keep the EOC’s shift of 100 members working to ensure public safety when every tool and process they relied on was physically in a 1,000 sq. ft. facility to which they would no longer have access. The EOC had to quickly move its operations online to ensure productivity while EOC members worked from home during COVID-19 social distancing measures.
About The Customer
The City and County of Denver, Colorado is one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. with a population of approximately 729,000. The City and County employ more than 11,000 people across 50+ business units, and its EOC is made up of 100 total members with representatives from across the city. The EOC is responsible for responding to emergencies such as blizzards, floods, and power outages. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the EOC had to quickly adapt to the new reality of remote work and social distancing measures.
The Solution
Denver’s Technology Services department set up a Microsoft Teams site to serve as an online EOC in which workers could communicate and collaborate. However, there were still workflows that were dependent on moving some 50 pencil-and-paper forms from desk to desk in processes that could each take up to seven steps. To overcome this, Denver’s Technology Services department used Nintex Forms to quickly bring 65 paper forms online, enabling EOC workers to continue to work productively from home. They also used Nintex Mobile to create a symptom monitoring application for all Denver staff that had to report in-person for work during the pandemic. The team was able to digitize 20 forms over a weekend and quickly brought that number up to 65 over the three-month activation.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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