Digital standards and strategy
The City of Waterloo completed a Digital Services Strategy in 2023. Use this page to find the full strategy and its associated digital principles.
On this page
Read the Digital Services Strategy
The Digital Services Strategy sets out a vision for the city to start its journey to become a more service-centred, digital organization.
It targets delivering more convenient and accessible city services, while ensuring all services continue to be available across all channels.
Find corporate digital principles
Our digital principles were first identified in the 2023 Digital Services Strategy. We embed these in the design and development of public-facing digital services.
1. We build services for users and their needs
Our service design starts by defining the problem from the user’s perspective. We conduct user research to develop an understanding of who users are, how they behave and what that means for the design of the service.
2. We build services that are consistent with each other
When the public interacts with the City of Waterloo, their experience should feel cohesive, positive and consistent.
3. We build complete services
We strive to design 'end-to-end' services that help users complete their goal as easily as possible without any gaps or confusion.
4. We build accessible and inclusive services
Accessible and inclusive digital design is good for everyone. We make sure that digital products are accessible to all users regardless of their abilities, device, environment or quality of access.
5. We build services that embed security and privacy by design
We identify the data a service or product will use, store or create. We put appropriate legal, privacy and security measures in place so users feel confident their personal information is secure.
6. We build services that manage data as an asset
Follow the rules and best practices when you organize and manage data, including making data open by default. Open data allows data to be available to everyone equally, creating opportunities for the development of better government services, across our organization and the community we serve.
7. We assign the right resources
We put in place multi-disciplinary teams who can design, build, and continuously improve a digital service or product.