The Public Technology Institute (www.pti.org) in July held a virtual summit discussing the need for and growth of applications for local government. The forum considered the role of Web 2.0 and mobile applications in delivering more efficient, more open government. Cities everywhere are expanding the services they offer online to residents in search of increasing efficiency and in hopes of delivering better service to constituents. And just as municipalities are becoming more web savvy, they are now also seeing an added challenge with demand for mobile access to their services.
Alan Shark, executive director of the Public Technology Institute, identifies some of the questions raised by cities in attempting to broaden their online citizen engagement. Common questions include how government can respond to constituents in a timely manner, how applications can be deployed in the face of constrained resources, and how mobile can become part of a city’s IT plan. While resident expectations for mobile access to government services continue to increase, cities need solutions that meet service expectations while not adding to their overall IT or budget burdens.
With help from PublicStuff, cities can quickly and cost-efficiently deploy the types of solutions their residents are seeking today. Residents can input service requests, map existing requests, and see what problems the city has already solved. With automated communications, PublicStuff increases information flow between government and residents without increasing the amount of work staff have to do. Available mobile applications also address resident demand for access to government while on-the-go with a solution that is ready for cities out-of-the-box and can be customized for a city without any work by city staff. The management-facing GovStuff solution provides a platform to improve communications with constituents while also reducing management overhead and work related to scheduling activities and updating staff, residents, and elected officials on the status of new, open, and completed projects.
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