Mobile applications in the service of the city authorities
Many people believe that a mobile application is something in between a social network with a geo-fiber and a button for posting photos of food and cats. Of course, there is also professional software, but it is several times smaller compared to entertainment content. But, nevertheless, a mobile application is a very powerful tool that can help in different life situations. In this article I would like to talk about how mobile technologies can solve the many problems of residents of specific cities and regions.
In the beginning, I would like to mention the Open Government Data initiative, the essence of which is that the governments and local councils spread their data in open access so that anyone could use them. This is necessary to ensure the transparency of government activities and significantly increases the awareness of citizens. On datacatalogs.org you can find a list of open data catalogs worldwide. Five results are available for Russia :
But at the request of Ukraine , unfortunately, 0.
The New York Digital website has a separate page called “Official apps from the city of New York” with a list of apps for iOS / Android. What are these applications?
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The task of the CalCutter application is to count the number of calories of your dishes and offer an optimized version with a smaller number of calories. The application is developed by the Department of Health (NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene).
Another app from the health department, Teens in NYC Protection +, contains information about clinics that provide “sexual” services. To participate in sexual "pleasures" adolescents do not need permission from parents or guardians. The clinics provide condoms, services such as birth control, emergency contraception, HIV testing, pregnancy test, and abortion. Also this is all done anonymously.
The official app of the police department. According to the creators themselves, the police department’s mission is to improve the quality of life in New York, working in partnership with society and in accordance with the constitutional rights to enforce laws, preserve peace, and ensure a safe environment. The application provides statistical information about crimes, news and videos, as well as a list of wanted criminals.
ABCEats is a local 4sq, an application that provides information on 24,000 restaurants in the city. The main difference from 4sq is that the application provides information on the results of inspections of the health department (grades A, B, C are set), which take place at least once a year.
NYC Water provides information on drinking water sources (as part of the Water-On-The-Go program), which operate in the summer in New York.
Want to give away unnecessary things or donate money to charity? The Stuff Ex app from the IT department will help you find the nearest place to donate things, as well as a list of charitable organizations that will gladly accept your donations.
The problem of waste and garbage is an acute problem for a multi-million city. To increase public awareness, a game application was developed by the NYCrecycles department of information technology.
NYC 311 is a directory of all relevant information about all state and non-state emergency services. Noise, potholes on the roads, repairs, illegal parking, no passage, graffiti on the walls? Using the application, you can report violations and / or call the appropriate service.
Another application Find Condoms allows you to find the nearest condom with free condoms, and at the same time will acquaint you with the program of the city on this issue.
Drivers are also not forgotten. Appendix You The Man allows you to quickly determine the degree of their alcoholic state and get a verdict: you can get behind the wheel or not. And if an annoying situation nevertheless occurred and you should not get behind the wheel, the application will offer you to take a taxi service or show you the way to the nearest metro station.
There are also a number of applications that have won the “NYC BIG APPS COMPETITION” competition. Among them, an application for finding convenient places to work, an application for signing petitions related to local communities, an application for finding cheap parking spaces, an application for tracking the work of the metro and others.
But not New York are one, let's look at other show cases.
The list of applications of the state of Victoria (USA) is quite impressive. Here are the most interesting applications:
Australian governments can also boast a large list of applications.
Some local Australian councils have also got their own mobile apps: Lane Cove Council Alive , Au My Council Services , Adelaide City Council , DigiMacq - Parramatta City Council , Mackay City Deals .
The functionality of the applications is different, but the essence is approximately the same - to provide local residents with maximum information about their place of residence or work, as well as the ability to quickly communicate with local councils.
Applications that allow you to report local issues:
And what about us?
Last year, a hackathon called Smart Astana was held in Astana . Participants developed applications on the city theme, which then had to be integrated into the IT infrastructure of the city. This year the initiative also continues to exist .
The problems in different cities are approximately the same, so the ideas of such events are also quite similar - the participants came up with solutions to search for travel companions, track and optimize urban transport routes, simplify utility bills and develop tourist guides.
Recently, the Moscow App Contest'13 competition was announced for the best application that solves urban tasks and makes the everyday life of metropolitan residents simpler and more enjoyable. Winners will be announced soon.
Official applications of the Moscow government are located on the page dit.mos.ru/apps , currently 7 mobile applications are available:
In Ukraine, such initiatives are in their infancy, although something is even happening somewhere .
For example, in Odessa, QR codes will be placed on all objects of cultural heritage, with the help of which you can get a link to Wikipedia describing this historic place.
But I want more initiatives. In addition, fast and cheap Internet in Ukraine (50-100 MB unlimited without problems can be obtained for $ 8-12 per month), so the potential for the development of web and mobile services is obvious (although there are still difficulties with mobile Internet).
That is why we decided to conduct a hackathon on a city theme in the very heart of Ukraine - the city of Vinnytsia, where the city authorities happily decided to support this idea.
Our task is to help establish a close connection between the IT community and city councils, provide technical expertise for implementation and various web services, APIs and materials, as well as implement as many interesting ideas and projects that will help improve the lives of ordinary citizens. If you are also interested in this topic - join us!
Thanks for attention!
Upd. Municipal portal of Novosibirsk: http://map.novo-sibirsk.ru/
If you have examples of good applications of initiatives on this topic - write.
In the beginning, I would like to mention the Open Government Data initiative, the essence of which is that the governments and local councils spread their data in open access so that anyone could use them. This is necessary to ensure the transparency of government activities and significantly increases the awareness of citizens. On datacatalogs.org you can find a list of open data catalogs worldwide. Five results are available for Russia :
- budget.gov.ru. Russia open budget / open spending portal
- data.mos.ru. Moscow city administration open data portal, Russia.
- data.openpolice.ru. Data portal for the Open Police project, Russia
- OpenGovData Russia. Catalog OpenGovData.ru is a public data catalog published by the Russian Government
- DataGov.ru. CKAN community site, Russia
But at the request of Ukraine , unfortunately, 0.
New York
The New York Digital website has a separate page called “Official apps from the city of New York” with a list of apps for iOS / Android. What are these applications?
')
The task of the CalCutter application is to count the number of calories of your dishes and offer an optimized version with a smaller number of calories. The application is developed by the Department of Health (NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene).
Another app from the health department, Teens in NYC Protection +, contains information about clinics that provide “sexual” services. To participate in sexual "pleasures" adolescents do not need permission from parents or guardians. The clinics provide condoms, services such as birth control, emergency contraception, HIV testing, pregnancy test, and abortion. Also this is all done anonymously.
The official app of the police department. According to the creators themselves, the police department’s mission is to improve the quality of life in New York, working in partnership with society and in accordance with the constitutional rights to enforce laws, preserve peace, and ensure a safe environment. The application provides statistical information about crimes, news and videos, as well as a list of wanted criminals.
ABCEats is a local 4sq, an application that provides information on 24,000 restaurants in the city. The main difference from 4sq is that the application provides information on the results of inspections of the health department (grades A, B, C are set), which take place at least once a year.
NYC Water provides information on drinking water sources (as part of the Water-On-The-Go program), which operate in the summer in New York.
Want to give away unnecessary things or donate money to charity? The Stuff Ex app from the IT department will help you find the nearest place to donate things, as well as a list of charitable organizations that will gladly accept your donations.
The problem of waste and garbage is an acute problem for a multi-million city. To increase public awareness, a game application was developed by the NYCrecycles department of information technology.
NYC 311 is a directory of all relevant information about all state and non-state emergency services. Noise, potholes on the roads, repairs, illegal parking, no passage, graffiti on the walls? Using the application, you can report violations and / or call the appropriate service.
Another application Find Condoms allows you to find the nearest condom with free condoms, and at the same time will acquaint you with the program of the city on this issue.
Drivers are also not forgotten. Appendix You The Man allows you to quickly determine the degree of their alcoholic state and get a verdict: you can get behind the wheel or not. And if an annoying situation nevertheless occurred and you should not get behind the wheel, the application will offer you to take a taxi service or show you the way to the nearest metro station.
There are also a number of applications that have won the “NYC BIG APPS COMPETITION” competition. Among them, an application for finding convenient places to work, an application for signing petitions related to local communities, an application for finding cheap parking spaces, an application for tracking the work of the metro and others.
But not New York are one, let's look at other show cases.
State Government of Victoria
The list of applications of the state of Victoria (USA) is quite impressive. Here are the most interesting applications:
- FarmrsMarkts allows you to find information about farmers markets;
- Get Me To Class allows you to find transport for a trip to any state educational institution.
- Lost app ! uses augmented reality to display the already defunct buildings of Melbourne.
- MyShopRights provides background information on the rules for the return of goods, warranty discussion and other aspects related to shopping.
- With SARA, you can anonymously report sexual abuse. And to report a violation or crime (send text, photo or video), you can use the application Stop Crime - Victoria.
Australia
Australian governments can also boast a large list of applications.
Some local Australian councils have also got their own mobile apps: Lane Cove Council Alive , Au My Council Services , Adelaide City Council , DigiMacq - Parramatta City Council , Mackay City Deals .
The functionality of the applications is different, but the essence is approximately the same - to provide local residents with maximum information about their place of residence or work, as well as the ability to quickly communicate with local councils.
Applications that allow you to report local issues:
- Fixvegas - see the problem, take pictures, send to the local council.
- Another similar project, NeatStreets , allows you to report, for example, about a killed kangaroo ) via a website or mobile applications.
- The Community App allows you to keep track of all the events in your area, as well as to propose the idea of ​​improving something.
And what about us?
Kazakhstan
Last year, a hackathon called Smart Astana was held in Astana . Participants developed applications on the city theme, which then had to be integrated into the IT infrastructure of the city. This year the initiative also continues to exist .
The problems in different cities are approximately the same, so the ideas of such events are also quite similar - the participants came up with solutions to search for travel companions, track and optimize urban transport routes, simplify utility bills and develop tourist guides.
Russia
Recently, the Moscow App Contest'13 competition was announced for the best application that solves urban tasks and makes the everyday life of metropolitan residents simpler and more enjoyable. Winners will be announced soon.
Official applications of the Moscow government are located on the page dit.mos.ru/apps , currently 7 mobile applications are available:
- Transport of Moscow. Sending free messages to car owners, an interactive map, checking the imposed traffic police fines in Moscow and the facts of car evacuation, background information for car enthusiasts and pedestrians.
- Mobile reception. 14 typical and a number of seasonal applications (not removed garbage, ice in the yard, pits on the roads, etc.), all messages are reviewed within 8 business days. Tracking the status of the message.
- State services of Moscow. Interactive map of urban infrastructure.
- Parking Moscow. Parking search, interactive map, parking management.
- Housing and communal services of Moscow. Information about the payment of utilities, plans to turn off the hot water, enter the readings of water meters, interactive map.
- Mobile tourist portal of Moscow. Interesting places, routes and events of Moscow, an interactive map with indication of city objects and a catalog of places of interest, reference and contact information on hotels in Moscow, a poster of the most interesting events and a brief description of sightseeing routes.
- Get to know Moscow. Interactive map showing interesting urban objects, background information, historical houses of the city.
Ukraine
In Ukraine, such initiatives are in their infancy, although something is even happening somewhere .
For example, in Odessa, QR codes will be placed on all objects of cultural heritage, with the help of which you can get a link to Wikipedia describing this historic place.
But I want more initiatives. In addition, fast and cheap Internet in Ukraine (50-100 MB unlimited without problems can be obtained for $ 8-12 per month), so the potential for the development of web and mobile services is obvious (although there are still difficulties with mobile Internet).
That is why we decided to conduct a hackathon on a city theme in the very heart of Ukraine - the city of Vinnytsia, where the city authorities happily decided to support this idea.
Our task is to help establish a close connection between the IT community and city councils, provide technical expertise for implementation and various web services, APIs and materials, as well as implement as many interesting ideas and projects that will help improve the lives of ordinary citizens. If you are also interested in this topic - join us!
Thanks for attention!
Upd. Municipal portal of Novosibirsk: http://map.novo-sibirsk.ru/
If you have examples of good applications of initiatives on this topic - write.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/195764/
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