SeeClickFix Launches a New Feature to Help States, Counties and Other Regional Collaboratives Shoulder Civic Communication

Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - By Anonymous - No comments

This week we signed the Utah Department of Transportation and announced a new routing feature based on road data.

One of the most valuable features of the SeeClickFix platform has always been the unique ability to route service requests to the proper individual in the proper department in the proper city, county, state, or other geo-political boundary.  

We recently updated our service request functionality to allow for the creation of routing areas based on road center-line data.  We are pleased to announce that the State of Utah will be the first to make use of this feature through their Department of Transportation. Here's an example of how this feature works: the map below shows all issues that have been reported in New Haven, CT on state maintained roads. In the future we can ship those issues off to the Connecticut Department of Transportation in an automated fashion based on a quick upload of their shapefiles into our geography zone manager.  In the future, a citizen who wants to report a pothole on a state road will not need prior knowledge that it is a state road. SeeClickFix will provide the information for the reporter and route the request appropriately.  

This functionality will be valuable for state-level Departments of Transportation as well counties that manage a complex array of roads within multiple town boundaries. As resources become more constrained, the geo-dynamic cloud based nature of SeeClickFix will allow more municipal entities to work together to share communication resources and think and act regionally.  In North Carolina, the Bay Area, Massachusetts, Georgia, Minnesota and other states we are already seeing a regional use of SeeClickFix spreading rapidly.  The road center-line filtering feature will surely help Departments of Transportation and other regional organizations manage citizen response more efficiently. 

Sign-Up for a demo of the New Road Files 

Closing the Loop

Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - By Unknown - 2 comments

I had planned to be in London in this week for a great event at Google but, due to travel complications, a recorded version of myself will be presenting a short white paper I published on SeeClickFix. The focus of the event is to measure the 'fix-rate' of social ventures. 'Fix-rate' by many other names is fast becoming a key performance indicator for many social ventures. 'Fix-rate' measures the frequency that the intended result is returned to the individual or individuals who have engaged with the platform.  In a highly functioning system, the energy that goes in is dwarfed by the energy that comes out. The time it takes to snap a photo is now worth 100 positive affirmations from friends on Facebook, a repaved road on SeeClickFix, or a launched product on Kickstarter.  

From Emmanuelle Kunigk of Integrity Action:

As London is currently celebrating accountability and transparency week, you may be aware that there are a series of events taking place in London culminating in the Open Government Partnership (OPG), a big international conference on openness and transparency.  

To acknowledge the importance of this week, Integrity Action, a British based NGO committed to designing out corruption in development programmes through building #integrity in local communities,  is hosting a conference with Google (UK) on "Closing the Loop with Transparency, Accountability and Integrity". 

By closing the loop Integrity Action means the triggering of an intelligent or informed response to a specified problem. The organisation just recently published the Fix-Rate paper (http://www.integrityaction.org/statistics-measuring-fix) which gives some examples of how the loop may be closed. At today's conference, Integrity Action aims to compare and learn from experiences that actively seek to achieve this. In order to have some comparability the conference focuses on the handful of initiatives - some by government, others by NGOs - that are able to close the loop on specific problems. In most cases, these are interventions that have been conducted at least twenty times and where there were at least 10,000 direct beneficiaries.  It is important to note that although a large number these interventions are technologically driven, all cases involve some from of citizen engagement.

Commenting on the conference Fredrik Galtung, CEO of Integrity Action, said that "far too many anti-corruption efforts fall short of closing the loop. Closing the loop ensures  that citizen have the opportunity tell us how it really is and that they are empowered to ensure that policies are appropriate, information can be trusted and that fewer public funds are wasted".

You can follow the event on-line today at
@Act4Integrity
#integrity

Commonwealth Connect 9 Months Later

Monday, October 28, 2013 - By Unknown - No comments

Below is an info-graphic for SeeClickFix use in Massachusetts through the Commonwealth Connect App build on our platform.
And some testimonials:

 “In a time when municipalities are asked to do more
with less, innovative programs like [Commonwealth
Connect] highlight how technologies can improve
our day-to-day services to the community.”
Mayor William Flanagan,
Fall River, MA

“[The Commonwealth Connect] mobile app is
customizable, simple to navigate and can be used in
over 50 different cities statewide. It easily falls in line
with Mayor Curtatone’s goal of making Somerville
“a great place to live, work, play and raise a family”
by allowing residents to report issues directly to the
City, as well as monitor how quickly they are being
fixed.”
Steve Craig, Director of Constituent Services,
City of Somerville

“It’s very easy to use.”
Department of Public Works,
Chicopee, MA

“The [Commonwealth Connect] Application is a
great way to create more community engagement
and to make sure that issues we all see are getting
resolved.”
Mayor Carlo DeMarie,
Everett, MA


“SeeClickFix is working well on #Nantucket,
keep those reports coming folks!”
Jason Bridges
@nantucketbybike

“Excellent response. The City was there within one
business day to cut the limb. Thank you. The sidewalk
is safe again.”

Sidewalk issue submitted by a resident in 
Fall River, MA

“Thank you so much for cleaning this up so quickly.”
Graffiti issue submitted by
a resident in Quincy, MA

“The repair looks good. Thanks!”
Sidewalk issue posted by
resident in Easton, MA

“The [Malden] DPW deserves to be commended for
their work handling the [Commonwealth Connect]
issues ... it amazes me how quickly they respond and
the work that is getting done.”
Resident in Malden, MA

“Kudos to Revere DPW @Revere_MA for tending to
the clogged sewer/catch basin on our street right
away. You guys are great."
Resident in Revere MA

Rebuilding Trust: A New Way to Think About the Social Value Proposition of Civic Tech

Friday, October 25, 2013 - By Unknown - No comments

Tom Spengler of Granicus made an important comment on a panel we were on at the Accella Engage conference this August. Tom's comment referenced civic engagement tools as a way of rebuilding trust between citizens and governments. This sentiment has started to enter my dialogue more often as I reflect on the value proposition of responding to citizens' requests in an open fashion. At a time when the Federal Government in the U.S. has lost trust in both directions (see Drones, the NSA, healthcare.gov, and the Federal shutdown for examples) local government has been working hard to rebuild trust in both directions (see participatory budgeting, open service request platforms like SeeClickFix, Code For America and the rise of do it yourself civic movements for examples). This is just a quick post to highlight the value of trust as a key metric in a functioning civil society. What are you doing to rebuild trust in your community? Videos from City Lab hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Atlantic Cities, and Aspen Institute and Accella Engage.

Citizens Help Their City With Mobile Technology from The Atlantic on FORA.tv

Millenials, Institutions, Government Shutdown, and SeeClickFix's View of it All on Al Jazeera America

Thursday, October 24, 2013 - By Unknown - No comments

A friend of SeeClickFix was kind enough to bootleg this copy of last Friday's Inside Story on Al Jazeera America (produced by Janet Weinstein and hosted by David Shuster). I was one of the talking heads along with Erica Williams and Norman Horn. The topic of the day: A government that nearly defaulted and a growing generation of citizens committed to finding solutions to a growing governance reset in the U.S.




Sign-Up for SeeClickFix Neighborhood Alerts 

Gadgets, Gismos, and a Happy Button for Agoura Hills

- By Zack Beatty - No comments

We recently inked a partnership with the City of Agoura Hills, our 15th municipal government in the great state of California! Over the next couple of months, we'll be working with city staff to implement our civic CRM platform, and rollout our citizen engagement tools.
We know what you're thinking: when will we see Agouras Hills resident Erin Brockovich fixing up her neighborhood from the palm of their hand, via our mobile app? (Sans lawyers, of course!) Unfortunately, she'll have to wait until the city officially launches our platform in December. In the meantime, Conejo Valley local newspaper publisher The Acorn has the scoop, announcing the program today:
Imagine walking down a street in Agoura Hills and tripping on the sidewalk because the lifted root of a tree cracked the concrete. Or perhaps you stroll by a wall scribbled with graffiti or wander past a tree near a business center where thousands of wasps are ready to strike. 
The City of Agoura Hills will soon have a quick and easy fix for any problem that arises under its jurisdiction. Residents will have the chance to submit service requests instantaneously through a mobile application on a smartphone or tablet.
Wasps? RUN! Then open SeeClickFix (from a safe distance), and report the nest. Your neighbors will thank you.  Moreover, Agoura Hills city officials will thank you. Yes, it's nice to have a local government that proactively engages with the community, using technology to facilitate constructive dialogue. In other news, we're officially a gadget and a gizmo. The Acorn continues:
Councilmembers were happy with the new technology. 
Councilmember Harry Schwarz joked that he was glad that the city technology has caught up with the gadgets and gismos kids use regularly. 
“We’ve done so much to make it easier for people to become engaged with government,” Schwarz said. He envisions residents reporting snarled traffic, parking violations and other problems. 
“Maybe there can be a happy button,” he joked. “We’ve really come into the 21st century.”
Did someone say happy button? Coming right up, Harry! Meet our recently launched "Say Thanks" feature, which allows citizens to send positive feedback to the city, when an issue has been resolved.  

 Keep an eye on this blog for updates on the launch of Agoura Hills, and hopefully other communities in the greater Los Angeles area. Want to see your city adopt SeeClickFix? Show up at a city council meeting and ask them! Tell them about our civic mobile apps and management tools. Or make an introduction for us to any city employee, and we'd be happy to give them a platform demo.

 -Zack

UPDATE: They're live at www.ci.agoura-hills.ca.us/i-want-to/report-an-issue.

Hello Holyoke! Welcome to the citizen engagement family.

- By Zack Beatty - No comments

We're excited welcome the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts as our latest municipal government partner, launching today! As announced by Mayor Alex Morse:

“I could not be more excited about launching this new initiative. This mobile application will not only ensure clear communication between the City of Holyoke and its taxpayers, but it will also encourage residents to take ownership of their community.”
To get involved, head over to the city's Report an Issue page, where you'll find an interactive service request map, as well as links to our mobile application. Thanks to the open nature of our platform, you can also browse problems that have already been reported by the community.

We're truly honored to partner with such a progressive community as Holyoke, not to mention a fellow post-industrial New England city along the I-91 corridor. On a personal note, we're all rail fans here at SeeClickFix, and we're lucky to have a major Amtrak hub in our hometown of New Haven, CT. So we are genuinely excited to hear that Amtrak will return to Holyoke, with the long-awaited re-routing of the Vermonter line back along the Connecticut River Valley. [Just to be sure, perhaps someone should report this via SeeClickFix?]

So while I was going to close with "We'll always have I-91", instead let me just say cheers to future on-site visits by train!

-Zack

Related Press:
http://www.wggb.com/2013/10/24/holyoke-launches-app-to-report-other-quality-of-life-issues/

Government Procurement: An Optimist's View

- By Unknown - No comments

This is a quick introductory post to a topic that I hope we will be talking more about in the future on the SCF blog.

 Here's the quick summary: It's not as bad as you've heard, its getting better, and damn it, let's help speed that along.

At the Code For America Summit last week there was much talk of procurement from speakers David Eaves, Clay Johnson, and Stacy Donohue. Stacy is an investor in SeeClickFix through the Omidyar Network. Her story is shared below and it highlights a very progressive and positive anecdote of group procurement of SeeClickFix by 57 municipalities in Massachusetts.

 Abhi and Dharmista at CFA also hosted a very productive conversation on procurement at the CFA un-conference. Some very interesting solutions for helping to improve local government procurement came out of that conversation. Off the top of my head some of those solutions included:

 -Breathing new life into Civic Commons. A place for cities to post successful projects and apps. CityMart.com would be a good venue for this as well.
-Creating a peer email list for start-ups and govies looking for advice on procurement.
-Encouraging lifting of RFP minimum thresholds in cities around the country.
-Documenting best practices in contracts and RFP's including creating a wiki that seeks to create the perfect gov + cloud based civic tech contract.  


 The last of these points is the one that I am most excited about. Kam, Greta, myself and much of the business side of SCF have a lot of experience negotiating contracts for our platform. On the other side of  the table are well intentioned individuals encumbered by legacy contracts and RFP templates. 

 Most civic start-ups check most of the following boxes:

 -open data
-cloud computing
-software as service
-consumer internet
-remote installation

 Most traditional government contracts account for:

 -enterprise software
-on premise hosting
-behind the firewall
-private data
-for internal use only

In the details of each bullet point exists liability and cost, and most details will have to be negotiated out of the contract. If you have not had experience with this it can be quite intimidating and a barrier to entry.  Kam, Greta, myself and the folks at CFA will be looking to highlight some potentially improved language or avoidable language that rears its head in local government contracts time and time again. We're unsure of the location and structure of this document at this point but in the meantime enjoy this video of Stacy sharing an example of efficient government procurement...


Government for The 21st Century - My TedX talk at UCONN

Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - By Unknown - No comments

Thanks to an awesome team of students at UCONN led by Rosie Cersonsky and David Ritter I was invited to perform a Ted Talk at UCONN last month.  The promise of intriguing TED level lobby conversations was delivered on with a host of truly engaged and thoughtful students who were volunteering or audience members.


This is Important: Your Neighbors are Awesome

- By Unknown - No comments

Having your rims jacked from your Honda Fit sucks. Having an awesome network of well connected neighbors does not suck.   Over the last couple of weeks there have been a spat of "rim jackings"in two adjacent neighborhoods in New Haven. Photos of the stripped vehicles as well as the location and times of the crimes have been mapped as individual issues on SeeClickFix. 

At first glance, reporting a crime after the fact might not seem like a typical SeeClickFix issue. However, in the comment threads, neighbors display the types of feedback loops that are intrinsic to SCF issues and by nature, a better community. 



Here's some unexpected benefits reflected on each of the issues: 

1) Neighbors were alerted to the thefts and informed to keep an eye out.

2) Neighbors recommend solutions for preventing theft such as wheel locks.

3) Though it has yet to happen in New Haven, the availability of data might assist volunteer analysts in helping police analysts identify a pattern that might not be apparent otherwise. The SCF data set has grown large enough that it has attracted hundreds of data scientists to challenges like this one happening on Kaggle.  We can see a day in the near future where an SCF-er helps police track down a criminal with data.

4) The press was made aware of the wheel theft problem, thereby alerting more neighbors. See SCF media partner story here.

And lastly the benefit that I see as most important and most emblematic of the SCF community and strong communities in general: 

5) An offer to help. One neighbor, "RMFarmer," commented on one of the issues: "If someone can put me in contact with the owner, I'd like to help get the new wheels to the vehicle."  

In the end, neighbors did pool spare tires to get the cars off the street. At a time when a neighbor is feeling discouraged about his/her community, there's no better opportunity to remind him/her that a community is stronger than its weakest links. 

Yay for neighbors looking out for each other everywhere. Yay for the Internet and local networks showing off the best parts of humanity.   

Sign-Up to receive alerts from your neighbors 

Photos below and issue source here


Longtime SeeClickFix Partner Lansing, MI Gets a Nice Website Overhaul

Thursday, October 10, 2013 - By Unknown - No comments

Lansing, MI signed on to SeeClickFix as one of our earliest partners. Lansing has been with us since we were the new kid on the block. We're excited to continue working with the city as our product expands and as the city increases its digital presence. This week, Lansing launched an awesome new website. The site has streamlined navigation and makes it easy for residents to connect to the city using SeeClickFix. The design is clean and inviting, representative of a city that cares deeply about engaging its citizens.

 Congrats to the folks who built the Lansing's new website and the Lansing project managers. Kudos to Julie Ramaccia, SeeClickFix Account Executive, who works with the city. A real win all around.

 Go Lansing! Check out the site here.





September SeeClickFix Press Roundup!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - By Anonymous - No comments

Charleston, Illinois gets a new app! In the Journal-Gazette & Times-Courier, which was also covered in a cool video on Illinois Homepage.net.

The Macomb Daily announced their launch with a SeeClickFix widget for their readers.

The Financial Times hit us with two great articles on the same day, which is pretty incredible.

Inside Bainbridge has this month's cleverest headline, "See Crap, Use This App" for Bainbridge Island.

The Mercer Cluster reports on Macon, Georgia using SeeClickFix for its citizens.

Tucson Velo reminds us (in awesome, impressive detail) to report our road problems.

The City of Stockbridge includes a nifty SeeClickFix mention in their newsletter, a PDF copy of which can be seen here.

Chicopee, MA becomes another great new Commonwealth Connect partner.

And finally, Financial Times & Citi Ingenuity Awards 2013 name SeeClickFix as a finalist, taking place later this month.

Did we miss something? Did you write about SeeClickFix? Let us know and we'd love to write about it!

Now Offering: Verified Accounts for Government Representatives!

- By Anonymous - No comments

Today we are excited to announce a new feature for government officials representing their department on SeeClickFix: verified accounts.

Now, you'll be able to see the "status" of an account whenever they report or comment on an issue. For any user who is registered, you will see "Registered User" next to their name. For those who just come in and guest post with an email address, "Guest" will appear next to their name. The biggest change, however, is that for anyone who is an official government employee you will see "Verified Official" next to the name, so the community will know with confidence who in the neighborhood is interacting on SeeClickFix.



For those who are already partnered with SeeClickFix, this has already happened. If your city hasn't partnered with SeeClickFix yet, this Verified status is still completely free. In the interest of openness and transparency, we would love to have anyone working in government get Verified--all you have to do is contact us with the email you use on SeeClickFix and we will happily and complimentarily upgrade you.

Seriously. It's free. Just get in touch.

SeeClickFix Announced as Finalist in Financial Times & Citi Ingenuity Awards!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013 - By Anonymous - No comments

This week we were proud to learn that SeeClickFix has been selected as a finalist in the second annual FT/Citi Ingenuity Awards! A little background on the occasion:

The Financial Times and Citi today announce the finalists for the second annual FT/Citi Ingenuity Awards: Urban Ideas in Action programme. The awards aim to recognise individuals, teams, organisations and community groups that have developed groundbreaking solutions to urban challenges that benefit cities, citizens and urban communities. 
Submissions were received from 44 countries and judges selected the finalists by region, based on the most innovative solutions enabling urban progress across city administration, transport systems, energy and utilities, education and resource management, housing, health, social services, mobile technologies, community engagement and collaboration platforms.
As one of four finalists from North America, we couldn't be happier to be included in such great company.
“This year’s entries included inspiring and effective solutions to key issues plaguing local communities,” said Michael Skapinker, assistant editor and editor of special reports for the Financial Times. “All of the impressive work submitted by the finalists has great implications for innovative solutions to urban challenges around the globe.”