During the current coronavirus crisis, the Hüttener Berge office is using digital solutions for meetings to reduce personal contact to a minimum and thus protect citizens and the administration.
As part of the COM³ project, Amt Hüttener Berge wants to connect producers, retailers and craftspeople with their (potential) customers in order to improve marketing and access to regional products and services. Discussions to coordinate and exchange ideas and experiences are particularly important at the start of the project. For this reason, four working groups made up of citizens and experts on the topics of “Functions”, “Logistics”, “Billing” and “Marketing” have come together to work on solutions. As no gatherings are currently allowed to take place as a protective measure to contain the pandemic, the stakeholders had to resort to digital solutions. All those involved are now continuing to confer by telephone or video. It does not matter whether the participants are in the office or working from home – for example, Andreas Betz, head of the office, was able to use the video conference of the “Marketing” focus group on the e-screen in the office administration, which was financed by the project, while all other participants were working from home. The results of the discussion were immediately entered into a document online and visible to all via a shared screen – so all participants were able to see the changes and additions during the meeting and work together on the wording. The Hüttener Berge Office is also currently coordinating with the mayors, primarily via video and telephone conferences.
It is now paying off that the implementation of digital communication options has already been financed as part of the Digital Agenda. With support from the CORA project, which is being implemented as part of the Interreg North Sea programme, the Hüttener Berge office has been able to invest in its digital infrastructure accordingly. This meant that there were technical alternatives to face-to-face contact from the start of the lockdown. As part of the regional WIR INFORMIEREN initiative, the current analog notice boxes are gradually being replaced by large-format digital outdoor and indoor screens. Information from the databases held by the Hüttener Berge Office can be made available here with maximum flexibility and up-to-dateness. The information terminals and e-screens set up for this purpose were financed as part of the CORA project. These terminals display news and event information for citizens as well as tourists. Software was programmed to automatically display new news or event announcements on the website and on the terminals. Together with 16 municipal councils, five locations were identified for such terminals. Five so-called e-screens are already in operation and connected to terminals. The 86-inch touchscreens can be operated like tablets and reflect the modern office. This now enables everyone involved to work on projects in new ways.