Peter Parsan – Region of Peel “Because IT aptitude is just good business”

While the systems were functioning quite capably when Peter Parsan assumed the role of director of information technology solutions at a Canadian municipality in April 2019, his bosses saw a growing need to use IT to foster more efficiencies and service improvements for the Region of Peel northwest of Toronto. Among other priorities, Parsan was to harness the capabilities of the existing infrastructure, make it more user-friendly and adjust the personnel accordingly without promoting further investments in technology for technology’s sake alone. “I came to infotech from the business side of the equation rather than as an IT professional,” the personable Parsan told Toggle in early April. “Early on I saw how technology can enable the way business functions. I had to retroactively learn infotech and acquire a certificate in it.”

It’s also worth noting that the mission was aided by REI Systems. REI helped Peel automate its grants management practices—GovGrants—through the cloud. The upgrade offers end-to-end capabilities, including application collection and review, contract issuance, auto-payment, reconciliation, post-award tracking, and reporting for such programs as childcare and community investment. REI also has supported the deployment of digital signatures to minimize the need for paper documentation.

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