What We Learned from Connect 2019

With Connect 2019 behind us, the energy of our clients and their passion for solving problems and improving communities continue to fuel our work. During our time in Dallas, thousands of public sector innovators from across the country learned how to harness data through modern technology to connect across boundaries, automate processes, streamline operations, and lower costs. Our biggest user conference to date gained widespread attention, including this StateScoop article. #TylerConnect trended worldwide.

Inspiration was around every corner, from the visionary opening to full-house general sessions to a uniquely special guest speaker. Tyler clients traded front-line tips and best practices with peers on and off-site and gathered in the hubs to road-test new solutions.

Clients engaged with each other and Tyler staff in the Public Administation Hub

Along the way, we all gained valuable insight and experienced memorable moments. Here are just a few of the many highlights:

Opening Session

From the moment the conference began, it was clear that the Connected Communities Vision is no longer just an idea. With data as the fuel, Connected Communities are becoming the reality as people, departments, agencies, and jurisdictions connect and seamlessly share information and processes.

The key to creating sustainably healthy, vibrant, and safe communities is to continue to break down silos and “think big,” as Lynn Moore, our president and CEO, challenged us to do.

Tyler President and CEO, Lynn Moore

At Tyler, we’re thinking big about how to deliver on the promise of Connected Communities, and our solutions help break down burdensome silos in the key areas of our clients’ work: operations, data, agency partners, and the public. Chief Strategy Officer Bruce Graham broke down this vision during the opening session and shared examples of how we are addressing these four key areas of interaction:

• Operations: Tyler’s New World ShieldForce connects first responders to mission-critical, real-time data outside of their vehicles, via an innovative mobile app. When officers have access to real-time dispatch and agency data, it greatly enhances their situational awareness and safety.
• Data: The city of Austin is doing great things to address homelessness by using data and insights enabled by Tyler’s Socrata solutions to help solve this problem. With data, we glean insights, and can ask and answer, “what’s working to address homelessness?”
• Agency Partners: Tyler’s Public Administration suite enables clients to share ERP and civic services data, and connect processes across departments and agencies, to create transparency and strengthen workflow across organizations.
• The Public: MyCivic is a customizable mobile app designed to extend your organization by connecting residents to all the services, resources, and information they need to more easily interact with their local government.

This is the realization of the Connected Communities Vision, which depends upon the commitment and work of our clients. The sessions and tracks that followed drilled deeper into these areas of service, with practical ways to improve daily office life while moving the vision to reality.

Public Administration

More than 3,000 financial product clients attended nearly 500 product sessions for Eden, Incode ERP, Infinite Visions, Munis, and New World ERP. Informative general sessions included product demonstrations, videos, and audience participation. Eight Tyler Excellence Awards were given to clients to recognize their achievement using our ERP solutions. Clients also learned of Tyler’s Cybersecurity Solutions. With cyber attacks now the number one cause of client disaster declaration, attendees were eager to learn how to defend their networks and bridge gaps in technology, manpower, or expertise with threat detection using Tyler Detect.

Clients felt like they were “in the office with Tyler” in the EnerGov general session that featured conversational insight into product development. A three-part class on adopting HTML apps provided EnerGov users with actual project plans and turned attendees into superheroes, complete with capes. And a step-by-step gameshow demonstrated how Infinite Visions rolls out “Intentional Innovation” to ease release disruption.

Infinite Visions "Intentional Innovation" General Session gameshow

Courts & Justice

Courts & Justice hubs were packed and popular as clients spent significant time learning about new products and visiting demo stations for Modria and Socrata. We anticipate a rapid adoption of Modria for traffic violations, and clients were excited to learn how Socrata can facilitate state reporting and court analytics.

Clients were challenged to bring one thing they learned back with them to make their jurisdictions better. We can’t wait to hear the outcomes!

Staff from the Shelby County, TN, Criminal Court Clerk's office celebrates a C&J Excellence Award for streamlining court processes and state reporting

Public Safety

The message was clear – America’s public safety agencies and Tyler make our communities safer together. The darlings of interest were the latest data analytics and first responder products including Socrata-enabled data analysis solutions for command staff and citizens and mobile-first applications, New World ShieldForce, and SceneDoc. These solutions that keep first responders safe while helping to save lives on the scene proved full of exciting potential. Public Safety clients also enjoyed networking and benefitted greatly from a combined hub with Courts & Justice.

Clients recognized with us the fact that we live in amazing times where NextGen911, artificial intelligence, cloud services, IoT, and drones are quickly putting pressure on but also providing opportunities for our Public Safety clients.

Tyler's Brazos staff enjoying the action

Land Management

In Appraisal & Tax, clients collected hot sauce, strove to “win big,” and saw strong product roadmaps particularly in the areas that support the full land development lifecycle. They learned how achieving real-time integration will streamline parcel validation and workflow. Integrations with Socrata hold opportunities for improved reporting. The Assessment Connect initiative, with data-driven innovation for better information flow across local governments, helped us think beyond the office. Crossing data boundaries and aggregating data across multiple jurisdictions was shown to enhance modeling in CAMA and solve appraisal challenges with unique properties.

Schools

In Student Transportation, clients and Tyler cemented “partners for life” relationships. Vice President and General Manager, Ted Thien, noted the parallel evolution of Tyler and our clients as he discussed our current place in an “on-demand” information age. Bethlehem Public Schools, New York, exemplifies this evolution — a client since 1983, the district is still on board and now looking to pilot Tyler Drive. Clients enjoyed learning that much of Tyler’s innovation comes from them, through client-requested enhancements, such as a Tyler Drive feature that maintains the planned path even when a driver skips a stop. And Tyler SIS clients heard first-hand about the upcoming Counselor 360 release in 2019 that will manage the pathway to graduation through tools for behavior, transcripts, and administrator oversight.

Data & Insights

“Don’t ask them what data they want, ask them what questions they have.” This pro tip from Connecticut’s Chief Data Officer, Tyler Kleykamp, set the stage for data’s transition from numbers to insights. Applying data to actual problems can begin to solve some of society’s greatest issues, including the opioid crisis.

Clients responded with enthusiasm to Socrata’s Snu mascot. They were deeply engaged with how best to use Socrata to pull relevant data from disparate entities to meaningfully answer hard questions — in operations and improving lives. They learned, for example, six recipes to address operational challenges and turn them into opportunities. Sessions also highlighted how the Socrata Connected Government Cloud is at the heart of our Connected Communities vision.

Snuffleupadata, aka Snu, at the Data & Insights Hub

A Conversation with President George W. Bush

Through the warmth and wit of President Bush, we were reminded that there is more that connects us than divides us. The President’s remarks championed the critical work of local governments in maintaining our healthy democracy and celebrated the daily successes of our clients whose work can feel thankless but is, indeed, greatly valued. President Bush made us laugh, compelled us to think beyond our own needs for the good of helping others beyond our borders, challenged us to remain engaged, and left us truly inspired and optimistic about the future of government.

Tyler's Chief Marketing Officer, Samantha Crosby, in conversation with President George W. Bush

A Vision Forward

Our vision forward builds from that optimism. Together, we can connect data, people, and processes to improve society. Local governments are best positioned to solve problems. We are committed to helping our clients provide excellent core services while enabling innovation for sustainable success. We challenge you to think big, tear down silos, cross boundaries, engage your public, and form partnerships.

Thank You

Thank-you to our 21 sponsors, including our platinum sponsor, Amazon Web Services. These carefully-selected business partners not only fueled Connect 2019, but, by extension, fueled public sector ideas and strategies that enable evolution and discovery.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to our clients — all 5,900 of you who were here with us in Dallas and those who kept things going back at the office. You are our heroes, working every day to fuel Connected Communities across the U.S. and beyond. Your work is not only our passion, it is the foundation upon which a safe, healthy, and vibrant society is built. Thank you for what you do, day in and day out, and thank you for allowing us to help you along the way.

Attendees enjoy a quick break with Tyler