Kamloops, BC – The City of Kamloops is excited to announce the launch of its first mobile application with the new “myKamloops” app. This free app, developed by CitySourced, is intended to act as a Report A Problem channel, allowing residents to report civic issues of concern, whether it be graffiti, potholes, fallen trees, overflowing garbage cans, obscured or fallen signs, or any similar issue.

myKamloops Screenshot

While this new app does not replace the current methods of reporting a problem via the phone, email or website, it does allow people to report issues quickly and conveniently using their Smartphone, including iPhones, Androids, Blackberries and Windows Mobile. Smartphone capabilities allow for residents to report issues via a photo or video, geo-tag it, and submit it to the City very quickly. The issue is then routed to the appropriate City department for resolution.

The app can be downloaded from the Smartphone’s store or marketplace by searching for ‘myKamloops’. Additional information on this service and links to download the app can be found at www.kamloops.ca/mobileapp.

For those residents without a Smartphone, this app will be available through Facebook as well, to simplify the Report A Problem process. The City’s Facebook page is located at www.facebook.com/cityofkamloops.

Press Coverage

Kamloops Daily News

Los Angeles, CA – Adelaide City Council is expanding its range of free Apps, with ‘Adelaide Report It’ as the latest mobile phone application to be released. The new app allows users to take a photo of potholes, graffiti and other maintenance issues in the city and submit it to the Council’s Customer Service Centre – all from the convenience of their mobile phone.

CitySourced available in 4 continents!

“We’re the first Council to trial this App in Australia – and join more than 20 other major US cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and San Jose.  It shows we’re at the forefront of technology and willing to try new things for the benefit of the community.”

The app uses geo-tagging technology to automatically provide the location of the issue or incident, simplifying the reporting process for users, while increasing the reliability of the report location for the service crews. The App will then send the user confirmation that the message has been received and an update once the request has been completed.

‘Report It’ is free to download and is compatible with all smartphone’s including iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. Read more information here.

People and organizations are flocking to social media. Governments are no different. These channels are perfect opportunities to promote your mobile app solution.

Note: This will be much more effective if you have a dedicated landing page with instructions to download your app. CitySourced has assets and copy which we can provide you in building out your web page. Contact us for specific information.

1. Create a CitySourced Facebook Widget

This Widget makes it super simple for citizens to report new issues directly within your Facebook page. Read more here.

2. Send Twitter Messages

Report civic issues directly to City Hall. Download CitySourced Now get.it/citysourced@ap…

— CitySourced (@CitySourced) January 24, 2012

Harness your twitter followers and use those 140 characters to drive them to your landing page. Twitter’s constant stream of updates makes this a very repeatable action. Repeat this action at least once a month.

Also, add hashtags to the tweets that are relevant to your app. For CitySourced, we focus on #Gov 2.0 and #mobileapps.

Contact Us

3. Write a Blog Post

A blog post is a great place to connect with residents. You’re reading one right now. Important info to include:

• How to use the app.
• Explain why you deployed the app.
• Tell residents where they can get the download the app, including links.

4. Update your LinkedIn Status

Your professional contacts are interested in knowing your latest endeavors. If you work in the government, GIS, or other related industry, update your personal or corporate status to spread the word about the app. Don’t forget to include a link to direct readers where they can download the app.

5. Email Marketing

If you already use email to communicate with residents, then add a link to email signature block. It easy to do once, leave it, and it’s an automatic way to generate awareness around your mobile app.

Have you tried these tactics? Do you have any other ideas for promoting a mobile app?

By: Shannon Donelson

As a kid I always loved watching superhero cartoons. One of my favorites, was Captain Planet. I thought it was so cool how he saved the environment from all of the polluting bad guys of the world.

We see things around our city every day that we don’t like, whether it’s graffiti in our neighborhood, a pothole, or trash. Wouldn’t it be great if we could be the superhero of our town or city?

If You Could be a Local Government Superhero, What Would You Call Yourself?

I would be, Graffiti Girl - defending our neighborhoods from being defaced by spray paint. Luckily for each of us, we can all be local superheroes. Check out this video below:

So download the app, get out there, and be a superhero! Download the CitySourced app for your smartphone. It’s currently available on iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7!

Note: This article was originally featured on Govloop.

Author Info: Shannon Donelson is a Client Engagement Specialist at GovLoop, the largest online government niche social network.

Note: This article by Susan Cable originally appeared in the February 2012 of American City and County

Access to government drives engagement. The more opportunities residents have to participate in civic activities and discussions, and the more channels available through which they may participate, the better connected they will be to their government agencies and representatives.

A well-run, city or county contact center can centralize customer service and offer residents a variety of channels to communicate with their government, including live agent, Web, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), mobile and social media. Those technologies are not only being used by big and affluent jurisdictions. Thanks to open source software, interoperability and portability, mapping and location-based services, low-cost mobile and no-cost social media, all shapes and sizes of local government can expand access to people, data and services.

Multi-channel contact centers generate citizen engagement by matching technology tools to community demographics and popular devices. Engagement in a community may be boosted through free mobile apps, wireless public kiosks or grant-funded public computers at libraries and senior centers.

More uses for increased data

Recent elections have demonstrated the power and communication value of new media technologies. The reach of text messages and social media postings can be compounded by a variety of community networks when residents forward information to friends, families and co-workers.

Read the full article here

Version 1.4 of our CitySourced Blackberry App is now live and available for download from the App World store! This update greatly improves on the previous BlackBerry experience as well as bringing the BlackBerry app to feature parity with Android and iPhone.

Here is what you can expect in your updated BlackBerry app. You can also read more about version 1.4 of our app here. Our Blackberry app supports Blackberry OS 5 (devices from 2009 – 2010) and BlackBerry OS 6+ all devices made from 2011 – present.

Video and Audio

You now can upload videos and audio files that you took in your camera and voice recorder applications.

Push Notifications

We are leveraging BlackBerry’s push notification system to allow users to get live updates of changes to their issues. When there is a change to the status of a reported issue, users will automatically get a push alert.

Our mission statement is to transform civic engagement, and we think this feature is really going to make that happen. Real time alerts will keep residents engaged and aware of how hard you are working for them. We think every time their phone buzzes they feel good about helping clean up their community.

All New Mapping API with Esri Support

Previous versions of the BlackBerry Application didn’t allow map views of issues. We have implemented a whole new Map Service so you can use the standard Bing Map tiles or your own Esri tiles similar to Android and iPhone.

Offline Workflow

Offline workflow allows users to create issues and save them for later reporting if they don’t have an active Internet connection.

Want CitySourced in your community? Contact Us for more information and to schedule a demo.

Tell us your thoughts on the new features in the comment section. What would you add? Subtract?

Columbia County, GA – The Columbia County Board of Commissioners is proud to announce the launching of a new smart phone application that will allow citizens to snap and submit photos, video and audio files of potholes, illegal dumping, deceased animals, and any other issues that Columbia County needs to address. During a press event on Tuesday, experts from the Columbia County Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department will provide a live overview of how the system works and the EOC and 3-1-1 staff will conduct a live demonstration from the field to the 3-1-1 Center to show how fast and easy it is to report a problem.

“In government, you can’t wait for people to come to you – you need to give residents the tools to empower themselves in the most convenient way” said Commission Chairman Ron C. Cross.  “This real time mobile application will allow our citizens to identify public safety and quality of life issues and report them to the county for quick resolution.”

Want CitySourced in Your Community?

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“Of course, citizens will still be able to call and report problems by dialing 3-1-1 or completing the on-line submit form – but the “Citizen Reporter” option offers an easy alternative that will give responding departments an exact lat/long location and a photo that shows the scope of the problem, providing for an efficient use of resources,” said Pam Tucker, director of emergency and operations.

ABC News Cast (Click to Play)

CitySourced developed the application for use and deployment by Columbia County. The app uses geo-tagging technology to automatically provide the problem’s location, simplifying the reporting process for users.  The application is available free of charge via iTunes, Android Market, Blackberry and Windows Phone. CitySourced will be integrating into Cityworks Asset Management System, and Woolpert is the systems integrator.

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Columbia County Contacts:   Pam Tucker, 706-868-3303 and Mary Howard, 706-868-3421            

Longview, TX residents now have a more high-tech way of reporting potholes, dead animals, sewer leaks or other problems to the local overnment. Residents with smartphones can get a new mobile app called “CitySend“ to inform public works officials of their public issues. The mobile app, unveiled by Longview GIS Manager Justin Cure, allows users to take photos, record video and audio of a problem, and automatically provide GPS coordinates. After the report is submitted into the Longview’s Cityworks Work Order Management System, users can track all reported problems on a map as well.

 

The app is available for the Apple iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows smartphones. The website, where residents can also report problems directly without a smartphone, is http://longviewtexas.gov/citysend.

“It will allow us to gain efficiency,” Assistant City Manager Chuck Ewings said. “It is a new way to communicate.”

“You can not only track the status of your report, you can look at other reports and see what the city has done to correct it,” Cure said. “And you can see reports in your neighborhood.”

For city emergencies residents will still need to call 911, but this app is giant step toward improving people’s lives.

ADDITIONAL PRESS

• CBS News Coverage
• ABC News Coverage
• Longview Texas News Journal

What does it feel like to be a municipal employee and deploy a mobile application that will engage the public? The following is a behind-the-scenes account from our deployment of the ‘Honolulu 311′ app for the City and County of Honolulu. The press, citizens, and internal municipal employees get a big a win. Take look at how the day unfolds. Note: The following is a first hand account of a CitySourced deployment as shared by City and County of Honolulu government workers. Minor corrections and adjustments have been made for publication purposes.

6:15am Live TV Debut

City and County of Honolulu CIO, Gordon Bruce, and Deputy Director, Forest Frizzell, go live on ABC News Channel 4 to introduce the Honolulu 311 app.

Honolulu IT Staff on ABC Newscast (Click to Play)

10:30am Mayor’s Press Conference

Mayor Carlisle holds press conference highlighting the City and County’s efforts to deploy CitySourced in order to better engage residents and harness technology in a transparent government setting. All three major media stations (ABC, FOX, Hawaii News Now) are in attendance to see deployment of ‘Honolulu 311′ powered by CitySourced.

Mayor Carlisle's Press Conference (Click to Play)

1:20pm Employees Rejoice

Employees share an internal kudos via email to the leadership and staff:

From: Director of Customer Service

To: Mayor; CIO; Deputy Director of IT; Press Secretary;

CC: Managing Director; Systems Analyst, Assistant Maintenance Supervisor; Planner; Complaints Investigator

Subject: CitySourced Press Conference Dear Gordon, Forest, Louise, Johnny, and Jim, After Mayor gave his press conference all three media stations came down to CSD (Department of Customer Services) to shoot footage of actual issues. We actually went out on the street and tested the CitySourced application and came back into the office to bring it up on the Complaints computer and to forward it on to the departments. During the demonstration we actually got a “real” issue reported. Interestingly enough, there were mobile reports coming in while the newscasters were here which they watched how a mobile report was handled and the process in which the staff goes through. The newscasters witnessed first-hand the difference between the phone app and the call-in report and how much time the call-in phone requires. In working with the newscasters and overhearing their conversations with their stations, they were commenting on how great a story this was and how awesome the app was since they saw it in action. Thank you to Diane who stayed with us and helped one of the newscasters go through downloading the app and walking him through it. Also, thank you to the Complaints staff, in demonstrating the process.

-Gail

1:30pm Happy Users are Happy Customers

The Deputy Director shares his praise with CitySourced about the employee and press response.

Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 1:21 PM

To: Andrew Kirk; Kurt Daradics; Brendan Piper

Cc: CIO

Subject: CitySourced Press Conference Team, Honolulu 311 is going viral. The news teams followed our Director of Customer Service down to her office and watched as her people received City Sourced complaints and logged them. The chatter was deafening. They all called back to their stations and said it’s the coolest thing they had seen. I can almost guarantee we’ll be on every news show tonight. The local Twitter world is also abuzz.

Great job,

-Forest

Deputy Director Dept. of Information Technology

Honolulu, HI

Press Generated from the Event:

ABC News Report
FOX News Report
Hawaii News Now

Want CitySourced in your community?

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(Jan. 31, 2012)— City and County of Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle today announced the launch of “Honolulu 311,” a new system through which the public may use personal smart phones to report abandoned vehicles, broken street lights, illegal dumping and other issues. CitySourced developed and launched the mobile app for Honolulu.

Carlisle also announced that three fellows from the nonprofit Code for America organization have joined the City for five weeks to help us better connect with the public.

“The Honolulu 311 system will help Honolulu become a lean, clean, smart city through the use of technology,” Carlisle said. “This is one of the goals this administration had envisioned to make city government more user-friendly.”

Besides encouraging the public to help alert City officials about ongoing issues, Honolulu 311 also allows people to submit photographs illustrating these situations, and can pinpoint their locations using smartphone GPS.

Honolulu 311 was activated today, and can be utilized by downloading the app from the app marketplace on a particular smart phone by typing in “Honolulu 311.” The app is available on iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry. CitySourced developed the ‘Honolulu 311′ app in order to help the city and county increase civic engagement.

Want CitySourced in your community?

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The launch of the app comes after the City held a successful “Hackathon” conference two weeks ago. The City’s Department of Information Technology is continuing to develop some of the best applications for implementation later this year.

See a ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ account of the Honolulu 311 Public Launch