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What an exciting week!  As cities and counties continue to sign up for YouTown, we’re more convinced than ever that this platform will empower local agencies toward better communication with citizens in ways that haven’t been seen before.  Apparently, we’re not the only ones getting excited about YouTown’s potential — as we discovered by surprise last week when we received an unexpected honor.

The Center for Digital Government nominated our CEO – Michael Riedyk – for recognition as one of the Champions of Change, individuals acknowledged by the White House as leading innovators and difference-makers on “Open Innovators” — the people, tools, and methods that are advancing technologies and re-thinking open data to pave the way for accessible, transparent government or public service.

The YouTown mobile platform, and its unique potential for having a “disruptive impact” on innovation and efficiency for agencies at the municipal level, was the catalyst for our nomination.  We were proud to travel to Washington and meet with the other Champions of Change, and to hear from influential folks like Aneesh Chopra (US Chief Technology Officer) and Vivek Kundra (US Chief Information Officer).

The Champions of Change keynote presentations and Round-Table discussion lead by Aneesh Chopra was a breath of fresh air, as his conversation and demeanor demonstrated his real passion for embracing the ideas and tools created by people “from the outside” — people who build on open data-sets in developing solutions for real-world problems.  For Chopra, open data is not just a vision to promote, but a way of life.  We also heard from Chris Vein, who led the charge toward open-source software and open data on the municipal level in San Francisco before taking his vision to Washington as the new Deputy CTO for Innovation.

Champions of Change
It was an honor to mingle and chat with the other Champions of Change at a reception hosted by the Center for Digital Government.  These are folks who have seen a need and risen to meet the challenge.

• Leigh and Andrew Budlong of Zonability are working to curate and streamline zoning information, helping cities unlock the usefulness of their zoning ordinances.  (Possible integration with YouTown on the horizon … )
• Jill Seman of Mom Maps created an app to help moms (and dads!) find family-fun, kid-friendly locations and attractions wherever they may be.
• Omar Haroun of Sportaneous designed an award-winning app that uses location-based technology to help people find and propose pick-up sports games wherever they are.
• David van Sickle of Asthmapolis is working to keep people with asthma safe and informed by developing a GPS-enabled inhaler and a mobile app to map and track asthma symptoms, treatment usage, patterns, etc.

Hats off to these and other innovators who keep working toward a more open future.  As Aneesh Chopra said in his remarks at the event — “There’s never been a better time to innovate!”.

More:
http://www.govtech.com/e-government/White-House-Honors-Unsung-Open-Data-App-Developers.html

Local Government Services — they run the gamut from legal to recreational — and all of them are important to citizens.  Sometimes people are unsure where to find information about even simple services like paying citations, licensing animals, or programs offered by the community.

The YouTown platform lets you provide a mobile service center where people can access information, get a contact number, and even find a map to locations where services are offered (Transit Authority, City Hall, Parks Department, etc.)

Keeping citizens informed about your agency’s services is a big step toward open, transparent, accessible government.

Lets get started with a quick overview what YouTown Services offer:

What services should I publish?

Consider the needs of the various segments of your community’s population: from businesses to visitors to residents, and even people moving into the area.  It may be helpful to think of “FAQ’s” that people generally ask your agency:

• Where can I get a license for my pet?
• What are the hours and regulations for the tennis courts at the park?
• Are swimming classes offered by the recreation department?
• Where can I get information about the recycling program?
• Where can I get information about building permits and inspections?
• What are the options for paying my water bill?  Can I pay from my phone?
• How do I pay my traffic citation?
• What transit options are offered by the city / county?
• What are the hours and regulations for the landfill / dump?
• Where can I get a passport application?

Citizens can find the answers to these questions by accessing the Services feature on the YouTown app, and finding the information that you provide there.  The services your agency provides are as unique as your community — so keep people informed!

In YouTown, services are bundled together in “Services Groups” so people can easily find the services that are most relevant to their needs. Some examples of service groups could include:

• Licensing
• Permits
• Health
• Recreation or Parks
• Utilities / Sanitation
• Transit
• Municipal / County Court
• Programs
• Safety
• Tourism

Services in Real Life

To see how it all comes together, let’s look in-depth at a few services being published by agencies right now, and how they appear on the app:

Shawnee, Oklahoma has a service labeled “Municipal Court / Pay Your Citation” which includes all the information citizens need to understand exactly what’s required to take care of citations in Shawnee.  There is a full description of Municipal Court hours, forms of accepted payment, how long the wait may be, and what papers / identification to bring.  A link directs citizens to more information on the City of Shawnee website, and another link connects to the inbox of City Hall.  A phone number and address are provided, and driving directions to the courthouse (City Hall) can be obtained right from the app.

Nanaimo, Canada publishes information about their parks department under “Recreation Services”.  This is an example of a city that uses the YouTown app to connect citizens to a portion of the city website (essentially creating a mobile version of an existing site).  Clicking into recreation services, residents and visitors to Nanaimo can browse Activity Guides, Trails, Parks, and more.

Morris County, New Jersey publishes county-specific services like how to get a passport, probate a will, or seek career services in Morris County.  All these services contain links to further information and contact numbers.

Enid, Oklahoma has a service for residents labeled “Pay Water Utility Bill” which contains a link to an Internet bill payment service.  From here, utility bills can be paid from the mobile device.  Enid has also published information on forms of accepted payment and a recommendation that late payments be made in person for faster processing.  A phone number and address are provided as well.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a municipality, a county, a small town, or a big city.  The services you offer can be made easily accessible to citizens using the YouTown Services feature.  Even if the information already appears on your website, people will appreciate the convenience of mobile access to community services — it’s just one more way to show your citizens that you care!

Tips & Tricks

Be as thorough as possible for the best results.  Here are a few more tips:

• Tell them what to bring — whether it’s paperwork, forms of payment, or a photo ID, this information helps citizens prepare and saves them time.
• Add contact info for each service you publish — an e-mail or phone number that people can use if they have questions.  Make this info as service-specific as possible.  (Hint: don’t just put the City Clerk’s mailbox on every service you publish — connect people to the right department!)
• Add a URL if people can find more information about the service somewhere online, whether it’s a link to a page of your municipal website or even a link to online payment services.  (For example, this can enable residents to pay their utility bill right from their mobile phones!)

Keep an eye on the blog for more tips and tricks about other YouTown features… coming soon.

The City of Enid has a vision for the future that is bigger than one might expect from a mid-size city in Northwest Oklahoma (population just under 50,000).  Ongoing economic development efforts — such as the construction of a new Events Center and the renovation of a Convention Hall downtown — give evidence of Enid’s commitment to community growth.  Additionally, the city has shown a forward-thinking enthusiasm for Gov 2.0 methods, using interactive and collaborative online tools to connect with citizens.  Enid maintains a sleek website in addition to six FaceBook pages, four Twitter streams, YouTube and Flickr feeds, location-based citizen reporting of community issues, and a live chat feature on their website.

Signing up for YouTown was the logical next step for Enid.  The platform has enabled the city to provide all this online data in a mobile format, in addition to helpful maps and descriptions of municipal services.  Citizens have appreciated the chance to stay up-to-date while on-the-go, and many are eagerly awaiting functionality for the Android OS (coming soon…)

Why they use it:

Derrick Silas, web developer for Enid, represented his city at the Gov2.0a conference in Oklahoma City several weeks ago.  When asked why he chose to sign up for YouTown, Derrick said he was determined to help Enid become “a leader” among the agencies that are learning how technology can help improve government functions and communications.

Leaders in Enid are dedicated to involving citizens in the governing process “by any means necessary,” and YouTown provides that interaction in a form that people already use often — the mobile device.  “YouTown allows us to be on the forefront of government mobile technology,” commented Derrick.  “It allows Enid to maximize its dedication to providing current and prospective citizens, visitors, and businesses a means of two-way communication with the city.”

Why they like it:

“I love the app,” says Derrick, mentioning how easy it was to insert RSS feeds from the city website into the News and Event sections of YouTown.  “I don’t have to do anything with those feeds on YouTown — they just update themselves,” he said.  These streams keep citizens and visitors updated on everything from water line construction projects to Historic Preservation Commission meetings, and everything in between.

In a word, YouTown is mobile government made simple.  Since it supports open-data tools (i.e. RSS, iCalendar, KML) that many agencies are already using for publishing local information online, the step to mobile government is easy.

Favorite features:

Administrators in Enid are pleased with YouTown’s functionality as a platform, enabling the publication of data from many departments within the city.  The Visitors’ Bureau is excited about the aspect of using YouTown for tourism purposes: visitors to the city can view details about upcoming events and local attractions without worrying about brochure-ware — even the maps are located right inside YouTown!

Maps, in fact, are one of the YouTown features that Enid is really rocking.  They’ve grouped their maps into categories that make it easier to “browse” the city geographically.  Visiting Enid or wondering what to do on a Saturday afternoon?  Pull up the map labeled “Family Fun in Enid” and discover a water park, golf courses, planetarium, country club, bowling, speedway, etc.  You can also check out the maps of local “Dining” and “Shopping” options.  Getting out for a night on the town?  Take your pick from the 10 different clubs, bars, and hot spots on the map called “Nightlife.”  For everyday needs, Enid has also published maps pinpointing local schools, fire stations, and lodging.  Citizens and tourists will all benefit from the convenience of having these maps waiting for them at the literal tap of a fingertip.

Look for more success stories coming soon… how can YouTown work for YOUR town?

Okay, okay.  So there’s another mobile app available for cities.  Gov 2.0 gurus know and love them all — apps for public transit, apps for tree huggers, apps for reporting graffiti, apps for exploring local attractions.  With so many civic apps around already, what’s so special about YouTown?  What is the secret behind a mobile government app that is garnering support from both large cities with booming populations and tiny towns with only a few thousand citizens?

Here’s the appeal: it’s NOT just another app.

In fact, YouTown acts as a platform for municipalities, counties, or agencies (no matter the size or scope) who need an easy, affordable way to connect with citizens on many levels at once.  If the concept of “Web 2.0” can be simplified to mean “Platform As A Service” (the web as an open, participatory, collaborative medium), then it follows that “Gov 2.0” can be defined to mean “Government As A Platform” (agencies using technology to become more open, participatory, and collaborative).  By this definition, YouTown really is the embodiment of Gov 2.0, allowing agencies to publish all kinds of data — maps, news, events, calendars, services, etc. — straight to the mobile devices of citizens.  It doesn’t get much more “open” than that!

Rather than bearing the cost of developing dozens of different apps like the ones mentioned above, cities can sign up for YouTown and “go mobile” in a matter of minutes.  While several large cities (think San Francisco and NYC) have been able to offer a plethora of community-specific apps to their residents, the majority of agencies just don’t have the resources to devote to mobile government development.  With YouTown’s user-friendly admin interface, cities don’t need a whole IT team or even a webmaster.  Publishing community information is as simple as filling in a few fields, copying a URL, or pasting a Google map link to the admin area.

Can YouTown really be effective as an all-in-one mobile government experience?

Yes.  There’s really no limit to the variety of ways YouTown can be used.  Each community can decide how much of the app to utilize.  For instance, the “Events” feature can showcase upcoming festivals and attractions, catering to tourists, or it can keep citizens updated on holiday closings or changes to the sanitation schedule.  Filter settings allow users to receive only the information that is relevant to them.

YouTown as a platform is a powerful way for cities to output all of their citizen-related data in one streamlined place, even across different departments or organizations.  It provides a solution for governments striving to embrace Gov 2.0 concepts, but doesn’t require great outlay of time or funding.  Like any self-respecting Gov 2.0 platform, YouTown is:

• Scalable — publish dozens of feeds and maps or just a few
• Customizable — your city’s branding and information makes the app unique to your community
• Adaptable — publish updates and info across many civic organization, from City Hall to the Police Department to volunteer groups

That’s what makes YouTown different from all the other government apps on the market.  It’s so much more than just an app.  Sign up for free and find out what YouTown can do for your town.

Online services are becoming available in an increasing number of cities and towns: from paying traffic tickets to researching zoning codes, you can probably do it from the municipal website of any forward-thinking community.  However, as mobile devices continue to grow in popularity, many cities are examining options for taking online information to the next level – the mobile level.  How handy would it be to browse publications about the services offered in your town, right from your iPhone?

Now you can — with YouTown, the one-of-a-kind mobile app designed to connect citizens to their local governments.  The publication of city services is one of the features that makes YouTown an ideal step toward one-stop government.  Agencies can publish information on any kind of service: development, recreational, municipal, educational, safety, and beyond.  Citizens can browse the service offerings on their iPhones (more devices to follow) and click to view further details about the service like cost or location.  There is even a “filter feature” so people can customize the services that appear on their device, fitting the YouTown experience to their particular needs and lifestyle.

An agency doesn’t even need a website to take advantage of YouTown’s publication of Services. For smaller communities trying to keep up with advancing technology, but lacking the resources or manpower to maintain an in-depth website, YouTown provides a tool to reach citizens effectively.  Publishing a service is a simple process that immediately empowers people in the community to find out what the city can offer them.  It’s all about connection.

Check out how these cities are already connecting with residents using the Services feature of YouTown:

• Enid, Oklahoma gives a detailed description of the city’s “Sidewalk Repair Partnership Program”, which provides property owners an economical and efficient means of repairing or replacing sidewalks in residential areas.  From YouTown, residents can discover the scope, qualifications, cost, and process of the program.  From there, it’s a few simple steps to better sidewalks.

• Prattville, Alabama keeps citizens up-to-date about the “Click it or Ticket” initiative that will run over the Memorial Day weekend.  Extra police officers will be on duty, working toward a safer community by targeting seat-belt violations and other high-risk infractions.  From YouTown, citizens can learn more about the initiative, which is funded by a grant program.

Mobile information about services is just another way for cities to communicate with residents.  With YouTown, openness and transparency don’t have to be expensive or complicated.  It’s simple for citizens and governments alike.  And services are just one of many convenient functions in the YouTown app — check the blog for an in-depth look at the other features!

YouTown will be officially launched at the Gov20a conference on May 6th.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could carry a pocket-sized reference tool with information for all the upcoming events in your city or town — something you could whip out at a moment’s notice, in case you forgot the dates for the Art Festival or the location of the new Farmer’s Market?  You wouldn’t have to access the city website or even Google, because the dates, times, and directions would already be waiting for you, right on your mobile device.  Yep, we’re talking about an app — a totally unique platform that makes community updates mobile and easily accessible.

It’s called YouTown, and it’s taking government/citizen communications to a whole new level.  Agencies that sign up for YouTown can begin publishing events and local happenings within an hour.  Citizens can browse the listings on their iPhones (other devices to follow) and click the event to view further information.  From there, all it takes is a finger-tap to call the contact number or get directions.  There’s even a “filter feature” so people can customize the events that appear in their YouTown feed to match their particular preferences and interests.

Coming soon: events in YOUR town
Events can range in category from the recreational (festivals, sports, cultural celebrations) to the practical (holiday closings, Council meetings, sanitation schedules).  Here’s a glance into some of the events that cities have already published using YouTown:

Enid, Oklahoma:  You can attend the Historic Preservation Commission meeting, or perhaps you’d like to join the Garfield County Knitters at the library.

Seattle, Washington:  The Community Center is hopping this week with Adult Basketball, Table Tennis, Volleyball, and Line Dancing.  Seattle’s Original Coffee Crawl is coming up too!

Prattville, Alabama: Check out the Community Chorus Spring Dinner Concert for an evening of fine food and entertainment, or maybe you’d like to give back by volunteering at the Spring Cleanup effort.

YouTown takes the popular mobile technology that people use in their everyday lives and integrates it with the data that agencies are already publishing in their newspapers, blogs, fliers, and websites.  Since people don’t generally have the time or patience to keep track of all the local happenings using such a variety of information sources, YouTown ties it all together and delivers it to your mobile device, making it a one-stop shop for keeping up with events in your town.

Events are just one of many convenient functions in the YouTown app — check back for an in-depth look at more features soon!

There’s an app, as they say, for everything.
For the modern traveler, the smartphone is replacing traditional information sources like maps, brochure-ware, and even tour guides.  This is because mobile apps are popping up that provide tourists with all kinds of visitor-friendly info like shopping guides, maps to historical sites, sporting event schedules, and suggestions for lodging and dining.

Some of these apps are specific to a particular historic location or attraction, while others are offered by cities as extensions of their tourism departments.  All of them provide the convenience of on-the-go access to resources that make traveling easier and more fulfilling.  This is great for the cities, too, since it provides another avenue to promote the area and attract visitors — not to mention the citizens that can check out the best their city has to offer.

But wait a minute.
What if you’re not in Boston or London or Vancouver?  What if you’re visiting a quaint township in New Jersey or a small, historic village in the Swiss countryside?  While most tourism apps are free for public download, they are neither cheap nor easy for communities to launch.  Many smaller towns have barely the resources and manpower to maintain a website, let alone the means to develop and launch mobile platforms.  Yet these small communities often have as much to offer visitors as the surging metros.

What if there was a mobile app that existed in a ready-made and customizable format, so cities of all sizes could just sign up and get mobile? No expensive development process, just a simple tool that allowed agencies to publish their events and historic sites to visitors’ smartphones without having to break the budget.  As it turns out, a newly released app called YouTown fits the bill.

YouTown is the mobile platform that makes it easy for cities to keep visitors informed.
Without having to launch a specific tourism app, agencies can sign up for YouTown and start publishing local information that can be utilized by residents and tourists alike.  The location-based technology allows cities to:

• List locations and features for local businesses and attractions
• Map historic walking tours and nature trails
• Pinpoint helpful visitor facilities like Chamber of Commerce or Welcome Center
• Chart parade routes and festival locations
• Provide calendars for sporting events, shows, and cultural affairs
• Pinpoint landmarks, public art, historic buildings, etc.
• Provide links within the app containing further information about local happenings

In essence, YouTown can act as a “City Guide,” customized to the agency that’s using it.  The beauty is that the app is already complete and is constantly updated to provide a faster and better user experience.  Once a municipality signs up for YouTown, all they have to do is fill in the blanks — deciding for themselves how they will use the app to move their community forward.

YouTown isn’t just for tourism!
The platform is unique in its ability to function on behalf of every department within a municipal agency, from City Hall to Public Works and beyond.  YouTown provides a full array of features, enabling cities to publish local news, events, maps, and services to enrich the everyday lives of citizens.  Publishing community info to YouTown is a simple, intuitive process — technical savvy not required.  And the app is offered in a free version so cities can get mobile without compromising their tight budgets.

It’s truly a one-stop government experience for residents.  And for tourists, YouTown can be a one-stop “guide to the city” . . . no matter what city it happens to be.