By letting citizens get information about road conditions, pay for parking and complain via iPhone apps city governments in the UK have reportedly saved about $350 million (£230m).
According to a report released by the The Local Government Association (LGA), in 2009 these apps cut costs considerably. There’s a wide range of iGovernment apps, from five city councils who put the hygiene ratings of local eateries on iPhones to real-time info about bus schedules and vandalism-complaint apps that require the snap of a picture to send the info to city hall.
“Whether it’s bin men working smarter, fewer phone calls to inquiry centres, freeing up staff from time-consuming checks or reducing parking ticket machine maintenance costs, making the most of modern technology and data sharing has seen huge cash savings across the country,” said David Parsons, chairman of the LGA’s improvement board.
Parsons also added that he expects that further use of iPhone apps could potentially save city councils up to £372 million ($569m) by 2014-15.
We’ve written about a lot of US city governments going app-happy — for reporting potholes and complaints — have you used any of these services?
Do you think that they make local government more efficient?
Via ZDnet
