GMA Partners with CGI to Create Online Government Services

The Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), the voice of municipal governments in Georgia, and CGI Group Inc. (CGI), a provider of information technology, recently announced the signature of a partnership whereby CGI's e-government application, gBIZ, will be marketed throughout the GMA. The city of Statesboro is the first municipality to implement this application, providing its citizens with convenient access to government services such as the payment of property taxes and applications for building permits and business licenses.

As part of the agreement, CGI will provide project management, functional and technical architecture, systems integration, solutions and applications development as well as consulting services. The CGI, GMA partnership will bring Georgia cities advanced architectures, providing multi-channel, one-stop-shop government service delivery.

"We are very excited about this partnership as we are setting a precedent in being one of the first organizations in the United States to adapt this model," said Jim Higdon, executive director of the GMA. "Governments everywhere are challenging their organizations for change that will result in providing better services with operating savings, ultimately changing the way governments do business. The gBIZ solution will enable municipal governments to offer more with less."

CGI, in Canada, is Service New Brunswick's primary contractor and architect. The province of New Brunswick has been an acknowledged leader in changing the way governments interact with citizens through the innovative use of technology, as pioneered over the past by its delivery agency Service New Brunswick.

"With CGI's help, our service delivery arm, Service New Brunswick, is bringing government service to the people and making it accessible, convenient and quick and gBIZ is the solution that makes all this come alive," said the premier of New Brunswick, Bernard Lord.