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Times have changed. Technology is moving forward at an alarming rate and in parallel, so are the expectations of our users. “One Call” services needs to continue evolving and we are proud of the changes we’ve introduced, the direction we’ve followed, and how our members and users have adapted to improve the efficiency of our services over the past 10 years. Broadly though, one call services generally operate in silos, which doesn’t make a lot of sense since we’re all essentially doing the same thing — receiving a locate request, processing it and notifying buried utility owners of the proposed ground disturbance.
With that in mind, one call (notification) centre leaders participated in a strategic planning session to address what best serves the industry today. The results showed the need for an international organization, open to all notification centres regardless of operation model (self-managed not-for-profit, vendor run); an organization to provide a collaborative space for cross-centre support, sharing and training on all facets of business for the modern-day notification centre.
FNCA (Facility Notification Center Association) is a trade organization governed by a board of directors with a stated mission “to evolve our industry by facilitating collaboration among One Call Notification Centres.” For Alberta One-Call, joining the newly formed FNCA aligned our organization with like-minded and progressive industry leaders where we can contribute, share and learn with our industry peers to improve the damage prevention process and save lives.
The FNCA is an education-based association, expanding upon value-added services including networking forums for executive leaders and functional staff, in-person and video conferencing, virtual education, training on a broad array of topics (from leadership development, board development and succession planning to IT assessments, cybersecurity and disaster recovery), and the development and maintenance of a member resource and data library. An example of what has been accomplished already is leadership in the COVID-19 response across the industry. Members shared response plans, actions being taken to ensure organizations were deemed essential services, and activities to ensure the safety of staff, stakeholders and those on a dig site.
AOC is committed to optimizing the damage prevention process and in that light, looks forward to the relationship with the FNCA and what we can collaboratively generate for our members, the damage prevention process, and most importantly, for those who rely on the efficiency of our services every single day.
Bruce Campbell, CEO MissDig / Mike Sullivan, President AOC