More local governments are embracing third-party smartphone apps to improve constituent service and increase efficiency:
In the October, San José City Councilman Pete Constant introduced “Mobile City Hall” by CitySourced, an exciting new constituent service tool that will allow residents to report neighborhood problems from the convenience of their own smartphones – essentially putting the power of City Hall in the palm of your hands.
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The City of Anaheim, under the leadership of Mayor Curt Pringle, has been the most forward-thinking municipality in terms of embracing e-government and new media. Anaheim has been single-minded in its efforts to enable residents to conduct their business with the city electronically, to the maximum extent possible.
This month, Anaheim launched “The Great Anaheim Apps Challenge,” asking residents and nonresidents alike to propose mobile digital apps and Web-based solutions for improving city services and programs.
Anaheim is embracing Twitter as a way to link residents with city staff and spur more rapid response to constituents requests, according to the OC Register:
“This month, Anaheim began an interactive Twitter account, believed to be the first of its kind among local cities – not only to let residents know about events happening around town, but also allowing them to send “tweets” to the city to request that a pothole be fixed or graffiti be removed.
City employees are charged with responding to the question or complaint that same day, if possible. No more than 48 hours.”
This open-source approach to improving e-government services is farily unique, and one that other municipalities should consider emulating. As local governments struggle to deal with budget pressures, inviting innovators to create fee apps to improve city services makes a good deal of sense.
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Sarphi, Inc.