Alice Chambers |
The Ontario Government in Canada has developed a risk-driven tracking database (RTD) on Microsoft Dynamics 365 to help communities better engage with at-risk individuals and reduce reliance on police for nonviolent incidents.
The RTD tool has been offered to communities across Ontario free of charge to collect risk-based information about local priority risks and evolving trends to help keep communities informed.
Government ministries and social support agencies are using the tool to improve information sharing between teams across the province. It standardises and digitises data collection during government-held meetings and then makes that information available to identify opportunities to reduce local risk.
“We’re really trying to take an all-of-government approach to identifying and responding to the root causes that put people at risk,” said Michelina Longo, director of external relations branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General. “We wanted to be more effective in identifying synergies across our communities and help those communities identify situations of acutely elevated risk. With the RTD, we have a technological solution capable of supporting those goals.”
The government has already onboarded 62 Ontario sites and is considering future possibilities for the tool.
All data collected from meeting sessions is anonymous so that names are omitted and discussions are stored by numbers in the cloud.
“Using the cloud inherently reduces our operating costs,” said Chris Walpole, former head of solutions at Justice Technology Services Division for the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General. “There’s no infrastructure we need to care for. We don’t have to worry about mobility or redundancy for disaster recovery. Basically, moving to the cloud helps us focus on our bread and butter – keeping people safe.”