How Canto DAM improves Glen Eira City Council's public service and community engagement

The Public Affairs team, working under the Customer and Corporate Affairs directorate, is pivotal in managing Council’s internal and external communications, as well as engaging with the community and advocating to stakeholders.

Council’s Community Vision 2040 is for a thriving and empowered community working together for an inclusive and sustainable future. A vital part of realising this vision is giving the community a genuine voice in decision-making, building a sense of trust and transparency.

The Challenge

Glen Eira City Council uses images across various platforms and for multiple purposes.

Images are a fundamental component of external publications, enriching content on Council's website and enhancing the aesthetic and informational value of printed materials. Although the volume of printed publications has reduced in recent years, Council’s communications have expanded into new digital channels. Images and videos are key to the successful use of Council’s social media platforms, engaging the community through updates and insights into Council activities and events.

Additionally, images are used in internal communications, such as during staff recognition events or for training and development purposes. They aid in fostering a strong sense of community and learning among employees, increasing retention.

Council faced several challenges in managing its digital assets. With an extensive amount of digital content, including photos, videos, and PDFs, Council was seeking ways to improve the storage, retrieval, and usage of these assets. Their previous digital asset management system, Cumulus, was no longer supported, lacked modern features like facial recognition, and was not user-friendly. These issues hindered Council’s ability to effectively communicate with the community.

Siân Clark is the Public Affairs Support Officer, often supporting the Communications team to develop internal and external publications.

It is important for our community to see the work we do. Council provides more than 120 services, but often there is perception that we just do 'roads, rates and rubbish'. Images help tell our story and capture people's attention.

The Solution

Council transitioned to using Canto, a more modern digital asset management system, to address these challenges. Canto offers advanced search capabilities, facial recognition, and the ability to create share links, significantly improving the management and accessibility of digital assets.

With Canto, the Public Affairs team has developed a smoother workflow, so they can more efficiently manage a vast library of images and documents that are crucial for their daily operations.

The Results

The switch to Canto yielded immediate and significant benefits for Glen Eira City Council.

Canto has drastically reduced the time spent on managing digital assets. We can now focus more on creating engaging content for our community rather than worrying about how to find and use the right images.

Improved workflow

Canto plays a central role in the daily operations of Glen Eira City Council, particularly within the Public Affairs team.

The process begins with photographers hired for various Council events and activities, who send a link to their photos to the Public Affairs Support Officer. These images are then uploaded into Canto, where they are organised into specific albums—often categorised by event and year — and enriched with metadata, such as descriptions, dates, photographer details, tags, and locations.

This systematic organisation allows different departments within Council, including those with their own social media accounts, such as the Arts and Culture team, to easily access and use these images for their communications.  

Easy sharing

Additionally, selected images are often shared internally via links, such as with the department that organised a particular event. Being able to quickly and easily share one or more images, reduces the amount of time the Public Affairs team spends on downloading and sending images by email to other departments. It also gives the other departments freedom to pick the images that work best for their purposes, improving the quality of external communications.

Being able to quickly and easily share one or more images, reduces the amount of time the Public Affairs team spends on downloading and sending images by email to other departments.

Streamlined processes

The enhanced search function and simple user interface allow staff to quickly locate and download images, which is very beneficial given the high volume of publications and social media content they manage. These features also reduce duplication — staff can easily find images of a particular activity or event, so they don’t take more photos of the same thing.

Additionally, facial recognition technology helps in quickly identifying individuals in photos, streamlining the process for feature articles and other communications.

Local partner

The responsive and insightful assistance from databasics not only enhanced operational efficiency but also provided Council with the tools to maintain compliance and manage their assets securely. Communications Advisor David Huang:

databasics has been instrumental in transforming how we manage and use our digital assets. Their support and expertise has empowered us to streamline our internal processes, ensuring that we can serve our community more effectively.