The app VcSBC, from São Bernardo do Campo (SP), was one of the five award-winning initiatives at the contest Governarte 2015: Prêmio Eduardo Campos, held by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). The app is a deploy of the ZUP platform, developed by Instituto TIM, and competed against 94 initiatives from cities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In its third year, the Governarte contest rewarded the best and most innovative public management practices by local city administrations. VcSBC won the award in the category “Cities and Big Data,” which recognized initiatives that have improved people’s lives through using big data.
Launched in June 2015, the app currently boasts over 8,500 people and about 450 public managers registered; has generated more than 11,500 reports and requests; and is been used by 53 city administration offices and departments. VcSBC has also helped map approximately 25,600 trees in the city to detect possible problems.
“We are very pleased with the results obtained through the system so far: We use the technology to obtain more information about all areas in the city, and give residents the chance to give a real-time contribution to the upkeep of the city’s urban area, thereby empowering them as citizens,” said Tarcisio Secoli, São Bernardo do Campo Municipal Secretary for Urban Services.
Besides VcSBC, another winner in the “Cities and Big Data” category was the Fortaleza Inteligente e Mobilidade Urbana (Smart Fortaleza and Urban Mobility) program, an initiative by the Fortaleza City Hall. There were three winners in the “Cities and People Registration”: the Online Civil Registry system from Baruta, Venezuela; the National Plan to Eradicate Sub-Registration, from Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala; and the Mobile Brigades from Guayaquil, Ecuador. The representatives for the award-winning initiatives will be presented with a trophy and attend an awards ceremony in Washington, DC, in the US, which will be taking place in the first quarter of 2016.
