Citizen engagement is one of the most popular topics today in municipal government. There’s not a city out there that isn’t trying to figure out a way to get their citizens more involved and it’s understandable why. A new study came out that showed cities and states that have higher levels of citizen engagement, actuallyRead… Read more »
The call for cities to embrace open data is getting louder and louder. The recent White House Digital Strategy Initiative is proof of one such example in which they call for all Federal Agencies to be accessible via mobile and have information readily available to the public anytime from any device. Philosophically, we love talkingRead… Read more »
Natural disasters, such as the recent forest fire outbreaks in Colorado, are often thought as “Acts of God” that cannot be tamed, or avoided. The best you can do when you know a natural disaster is headed your way, like a tornado or forest fire, is stock up on supplies, prepare your home as bestRead… Read more »
One of the most common – and important – ways that citizens interact with their government is through the reporting of non-emergency issues in their neighborhoods. How effectively governments manage these requests for service is critical to fostering stable neighborhoods and confidence in municipal leadership. Since it was first adopted in Baltimore in the mid-1990’s,Read… Read more »
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 buildingRead… Read more »
The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office (where I work on civil law investigations and social media initiatives) this week launched a local campaign to tackle illegal dumping and graffiti, using SeeClickFix and a range of 311 services to encourage smartphone and Web reporting of neighborhood blight. The “Let’s Do It SF!” initiative also has aRead… Read more »
I have a new guilty pleasure: ChaCha. In a nutshell, text any question you have to ChaCha (242-242) and a human on the other end will Google it and text you back the answer at no charge. While it’s great for folks without smartphones, it’s also addictive for those who do – knowing a realRead… Read more »
Some cities with 311 Call Centers might have the knee-jerk reaction of resisting open-data platforms like SeeClickFix, even though it offers more transparency and better user experience. Yet our experience has been that many cities are willing to experiment with combining the utility of both systems. Consider this recent case from Chattanooga, TN. A monthRead… Read more »
CivicPlus has released the highly anticipated Citizen Request Tracker™ (CRT) application for the iPhone and iPod Touch to their more than 580 city and county clients across North America. The app is now available for free at the iTunes App Store. The Citizen Request Tracker app gives constituents in cities and counties currently using CivicPlus’Read… Read more »
This is a crosspost of http://dotgov.com Dear Santa, I hope you were able to enforce Web Accessibility on State & Local Government levels. My second wish is as challenging as the first one. Santa Art by Sophie (7 years) Each time I need a government service, I need to wade through numerous of websites toRead… Read more »