Virtually all governments across
America are facing similar situations with shrinking budgets, but also the same
ability to leverage technology, yet few governments have sought new ways to
capture the power that most devices offer. An area where mobile technology is being exploited
for its benefits is the area of emergency preparedness. Unlike most, the county of Pierce, Washington
uses mobile devices to conduct damage assessments of buildings and
infrastructures after natural disasters.
In the past, damage assessments were collected via paper, which led to
input errors as due to human mistake.
Now, field operators can immediately upload the data to the emergency
operations center.
Pierce County also partners with the University
of Washington to increase its efficiency while lowering its costs had they
contracted out this service. Working
together, these two institutions developed a program where university students collaborate
with Pierce county IT professionals to develop applications during their
internship. The students are exposed to
real life experience along with coaching and other mentorship opportunities. Additionally the students report that this
opportunity sets them apart from others who have never received this
experience. This partnership gives the
city the reach back capability of the students along with free labor. Similar to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center case we recently discussed in class, the University also serves as a
pool or bench for future employment.
The city of Anaheim California is taking a different approach
of the advantages that mobile technology. They have developed an app that allows
residents to report graffiti or non-emergency suspicious activity using their
phones camera and GPS tagging capabilities.
Though these two example are completely different, it shows
that governments can indeed use mobile devices for various uses. Cities can take advantage of the academic institutions
where mobile technology is studied in order to govern more effectively.
There are countless other ways that governments can take
advantage of this field. Does anyone have
any other examples?
Can you please provide a link to the article?
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