Awaken your ideas

Over the last two years of the annual Sta Ideas scheme Dublin City Council sta members have proposed over 500 new ideas, big and small, to improve this organisation and the city. This exhibition celebrates just some of those ideas, which have been piloted or implemented with successful outcomes. The Studio would like to thank all of our home grown Council innovators who have turned their ideas into action, resulting in real cost savings and better public services. Ideas for the city include an original patented product to clean city drains, which has generated 250,000 in savings to date, and the promotion of new greenway walks along our rivers. There were ideas about engaging communities in the management of their green spaces and asking people to suggest Beta Projects to trial on our city streets. Ideas for the council include integrating photocopying on our sta ID card and putting procurement contracts information up on Dubnet. Other ideas about developing the potential of sta include the skillshare pilot on Dubnet, the local ideas scheme in the Drainage division and using First Post to keep in touch with retired friends and colleagues. Small ideas can have big impact, for example installing sensor lights in homeless hostels has resulted in big cost and energy savings and a new pathnder system for Darndale has helped to improve emergency response time for the Fire Brigade. At the other end of the scale there were ideas with big ambition to generate renewable energy at water treatment plants, which may take time to implement so watch this space for further news.

Your Idea Here

This exhibition was prepared by the Studio; a corporate resource that aims to encourage innovation in Dublin City Council. We run the annual sta ideas scheme to encourage sta to come up with new ideas and put them into ea! d action. We are launching the NEW Sta Ideas I r u it yo m b u by S e n i l Scheme and are calling out for more ideas to t on bnet or i m b n su as on Du to The a c Ide You a form es, t c S improve the city and the council. y r g t O n n c clicki an e , Civi
e pleas y.ie or s e i r Ideas will be assessed anonymously by a panel e it u any q o@dublinc e v a h i If you tudio: stud 226880. 1) 2 made up of people from various departments and The S Tel. (0 previous winners of the scheme. If your idea is shortlisted you will have the opportunity to develop and implement your idea and you could see YOUR idea here next year!

osting 2 Floor 3 lin 8. p y b Dub lock , B y , a o u i Q ct Stud Wood conta

So hurry up and submit your idea before Friday 25th October.

Walk on the Wild Side

Grace Maguire, inspired by the Great Western Greenway in Mayo had the idea to start urban greenway walks in the city. The rst walk was launched in September 2012 when over 250 people took part in a walk along the River Dodder from Terenure to Donnybrook. Maps of the route were distributed and refreshments provided. Following the success of this event a new walking group was set up under the Lets Walk and Talk initiative. Due to the level of interest in the Greenway Walks Grace is now looking to develop walking trails along the Grand Canal and along the Li ey to Poolbeg and to identify new village walking trails. A new walking trail has just been launched in Ranelagh village with a programme of events and maps to highlight points of interest along the way. Grace Maguire, South East Area

Friends of Green Spaces

Martin Taylor is a Community O cer who identied a number of derelict green areas that are not being used for the benet of the local community. His idea was to start a friends of green spaces scheme to give people the opportunity to become active citizens by taking ownership of these sites and turning them into attractive green spaces. Parks and Housing Departments support the programme by supplying expertise and equipment. The scheme also engages with young people giving them an opportunity to learn about gardening. Local residents in housing schemes across the South-East Area of the city including Pearse House, Whitefriar Street, York Street and Charlemont Court are now developing communal gardens that are a local focal point. The scheme is now being rolled out city-wide, getting locals and retailers involved in public green spaces such as Donnybrook village and Sandymount Green. Martin Taylor, South East Area

Pearse House

Donnybrook village

Smarter Working
Vincent OReilly had the idea of using our sta ID cards to double up as swipe cards for the new FollowMe printing system, instead of a separate fob. This idea has now been fully implemented throughout Civic O ces and some other council buildings. It involved input from a number of departments Human Resources, Information Systems and Corporate Services and is working well. A new type of card with integrated wireless technology was introduced, which meant all sta ID cards had to be re-printed, but thanks to a big e ort from Facilities Management and Customer Services this was done very quickly. A saving has been made in that the cost of the new card is less than half that of a fob. One card now works on the printers, doors, exitime system and canteen services so we now only have to carry around one card instead of having carrying a fob around too. One less thing to forget! Vincent OReilly, Human Resources

Sharing Procurement Information

Greg Byrne had the idea to set up a Dublin City Council Contract Register to make available to all sta members the details of all currently awarded contracts across the organisation and their associated goods and services. Since starting this idea, Greg has gone on to develop a dynamic web application which is up and running since June 2013 on Dubnet. Sta members can now check the details of all supply, service and works contracts or browse a list all contracted suppliers. This makes it easy for sta to nd out where to buy all kinds of items from building materials to o ce equipment or to procure services such as advertising, printing or landscaping services. Information is updated daily by sta in the Central Procurement Unit. The contract register generates cost savings by allowing sta to avail of more competitive prices and also highlights opportunities for collaboration on the procurement of goods and services, to improve e ciencies throughout the organisation. Greg Byrne, Finance Department

Sharing Sta Skills

Eileen Dennan had the idea to set up the Dublin City Council Skills Exchange Register to bring together the people who have work related skills with those who need them. The idea is that sta can volunteer to assist other sections by sharing these skills for a short time-period, provided their line manager agrees. To test the concept, Eileen piloted the idea for 3 months in the Civic O ces. She set up a skill-sharing register on Dubnet, where people signed up to register their skill or to request skills they require. Over the 3 month trial 45 skill sets were registered including languages, design, facilitation, photography and computer skills, among others. The pilot showed that many sta are willing to share their skills, resources permitting and welcome the opportunity to work with others across the organisation. The skillshare is in beta mode and awaiting evaluation to plan next steps. Eileen Dennan, Information Systems

Keeping in Touch with Retired Sta

After talking to retired colleagues, Michael Doherty came up with the idea of sending a copy of First Post, the Councils sta magazine to all retired and former council sta so that they can be kept updated on events, activities, classes and news in Dublin City Council. To save on cost and the environment he decided to send a digital copy of the newsletter. He had the idea to attach a yer to the payslips so that each pensioner could return their e-mail address by post or email to be included on a distribution list. Thanks to the co-operation of sta in the Communications Section, Salary and Wages Section and Human Resources over 500 pensioners emails have been collected since October 2011. Now when any member of sta is leaving they are asked if they wish to receive the First Post by e-mail to keep in touch with friends and colleagues at minimal cost to the organisation. Michael Doherty, Information Systems

Top Innovators
Wastewater Services are top of the class when it comes to innovation and have had several ideas shortlisted by the Ideas Scheme. One such idea was to encourage sta to complete their driver training on their own time, saving the council time and money. Drainage have even started their own internal ideas scheme to encourage sta to come up with ideas specic to their working environment; from the installation of mirrors to help complete vehicle checklists, use of green diesel on all auxiliary equipment and task specic manual handling training. Another idea was the wet-well foul sumps project, which completely reviewed the way pumping stations operate by examining wet well cleaning and pump e ciencies. New methods were devised which resulted in fewer blockages, greater automation and the reduction in the number of times sta have to enter these hazardous environments. A case study showed that the Ballymun Pumping Station is operating 20% more e ciently at present with an annual saving of around 5,000 on electricity while man-hours spent on sump cleaning have reduced from 592hrs in 2010 to 33hrs in 2012.

Before

After

Walter OMalley, Joe Reynolds, Ernie Gorman, Terry OBrien, Dick Lord, Paddy Higgins, Ciaran ORuanaidh and Mick Kenny, Wastewater Services Division

Original Designs
Roy O Donnell emerged as a serial inventor after winning three prizes in the sta ideas scheme. Working in the Drainage division as a gully manager, he saw the problems that the crews experienced in trying to keep the cities drainage system in working order. To make the work easier, safer and to improve e ciency Roy invented a number of devices, which were designed by him and manufactured to his specications. The Gully Cleaning Eye Cap Holder is a retrot unit that allows direct access for cleaning older gullies. The design has been patented in Ireland and the UK in a joint application between Roy and the council, which is a rst for Dublin City Council. The retro-tting of 369 gullies has led to savings of approximately 250,000 to date with approximately 1300 retro-ts needed. Roys other inventions include a Push Cam Wheel Unit and CCTV extension tube to survey and jet pipelines from above ground without having to enter the manhole chamber or pipeline. Roy O Donnell, Mark Gleeson & Gully Cleaning Crew, South Side Construction Crews Des Carthy, Colm Doyle , Walter OMalley & James Murphy, Drainage Division

Small Idea, Big Impact

Gerry Moore works at Maple House Homeless Hostel. He noticed that lights were being left on all the time resulting in large electricity bills. While certain areas of the hostel need to be lit for both client and sta safety, he wondered if the council could cut back on electricity use in other areas without compromising on security. Gerry and his colleague Shane Grouse came up with the idea of installing sensor lights in communal areas such as toilets, hallways and stairways. They got support from their managers and the sensors were installed. This resulted in savings of 835 on the rst electricity bill after the sensors were installed in comparison to the same period in the previous year, showing that small ideas can generate big savings. Gerry hopes his idea will encourage other sta to put forward their own ideas and contribute something positive in these hard times. Shane Grouse and Gerry Moore, Homeless Section

Finding the Right Path in an Emergency

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When a reghter receives an emergency call, time is of the essence. Because the house numbering system in some housing estates is non-sequential, re and ambulance crews can lose valuable time in nding the right address. To overcome this problem, reghter Cathal Garvey created a route marking system which makes it easier to locate addresses. The house numbers are colour coded on a map and the corresponding coloured route can be followed from the entrance to the section of the estate leading directly to the particular house. During testing of his idea in Darndale, Cathal found that 80 per cent of responders make mistakes when locating the address but when using the colour coded maps their emergency response times are at least twice as fast and they did not make any mistakes. This shows how even a small idea could potentially be lifesaving. Cathal Garvey, Dublin Fire Brigade

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Transform Your Street with a Beta Project

Shane Waring felt that Dublin needed to nd a way to better innovate, so began Dublin City Beta Projects as a trial in April 2012. It asks Dublin (both Council and citizens) to suggest solutions to city issues and opportunities. Those solutions are then temporarily trialed 'on the street' to help people visualize the suggestion and also generate real-world measurements for the Council. The public response has been extremely positive with over 2500 followers on social media, regularly contributing suggestions and solutions on such wide-ranging topics as cycling, on-street dumping, street art, vacant sites and digital mapping. The project is trialing a 1% Innovation Fund, uses a transparent system to better manage the suggestions that it receives, has been included in Dublins new Digital Masterplan and also is generating interest from other cities in Ireland and abroad. More info at dubcitybeta.wordpress.com Get in touch at betaprojects@dublincity.ie or on Twitter or Facebook! Shane Waring, City Architects

Renewable Energy Sources

Eric Lavelles idea was based on using Photovoltaics as a renewable energy to reduce the electricity costs for Ballyboden Water Treatment Plant. Eric prepared a feasibility report, which looked at the annual electricity consumption for 2011 and estimated that 80% of this could be powered during daylight hours, the Water Treatment Plant is operated 24/7. The payback period from one contractor came back at 9 years, considering electricity prices are going up by nearly 10% every year this could bring this gure down to 8 years and so on. There is also a 25 year guarantee on the Photovoltaic units which would give a minimum of 16 years operational savings. Preparing the report made Eric more aware of the energy ine ciencies that were on site. He is currently looking at ways we could improve on them so watch this space for further news about this ambitious idea. Eric Lavelle, Water Services.