Yarmouth Announces New Partnership with Online, Mobile Citizen Reporting Platform
Town Will Use SeeClickFix to Improve Quality of Life, Encourage Greater Civic Participation
Yarmouth, NS (January 17, 2012) - Today, Mayor Phil Mooney announces a new program that will allow residents to report quality-of-life issues and request city services through an online and mobile interface. Powered by SeeClickFix, the place-based reporting platform allows residents to document neighborhood concerns and improvements alike, ranging from litter and flooding to damaged sidewalks and malfunctioning traffic signals.
“In this information age, there’s an increasing need to make local government more accessible to its constituents,” Mooney said. “SeeClickFix does just that.”
With the online and mobile reporting platform, residents can report quality-of-life concerns through service request categories via the Yarmouth website, custom mobile applications (iPhone, Android, Blackberry), Facebook App, and SeeClickFix.com. When submitting issues via mobile app, for example, residents can provide locational, descriptive, and photographic information as they see the issue in real time. Once the resident submits an issue, the reporter, Yarmouth, and anyone ‘watching’ the area will receive an alert. The town can then acknowledge the service request, route it to the proper department, and update the request—and residents following the issue—once it’s been resolved.
The Technology Advisory Committee recommended SeeClickFix to the town council as means of improving government accountability and citizen engagement. The partnership allows residents to not only report community issues, but also view, comment on, and vote to fix problems submitted by their neighbors. Citizens can even create their own “watch areas” to receive notifications about all issues reported in their community, enabling them to follow the progress of all service requests---not just the ones they report.
“From Leduc to Grande Prairie, the town of Yarmouth joins a growing list of municipalities across Canada that have decided to see, click, and fix issues in their communities,” said Ben Berkowitz, SeeClickFix CEO. “From its mobile apps to Facebook App, the SeeClickFix platform taps into the modern, digitally-connected individual and allows them to more easily communicate concerns to those responsible for fixing them. We’re excited to see how our technology connects the town and its residents to solve problems that affect everyone.”
The Yarmouth SeeClickFix website can be found here: http://townofyarmouth.ca/services/operational-services/e-report-public-works-concern and residents can download iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps here: http://www.seeclickfix.com/apps.
About SeeClickFixSeeClickFix allows citizens anywhere in the world to report and monitor non-emergency community issues ranging from potholes and planted trees to garbage and graffiti. Launched in 2008, it empowers citizens, community groups, media organizations, and governments to work together and improve their neighborhoods. Through mobile web, web, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps, the SeeClickFix platform is the most widely-distributed citizen reporting tool in the country. SeeClickFix supports the Open311 standard that promotes improved communication between local municipalities and the citizens they serve. The platform is fun and easy to use for citizens while being inexpensive and easily adaptable for governments. Over 40 percent of issues reported on SeeClickFix are ultimately resolved. For more information or to report an issue, visit www.seeclickfix.com.
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