One year after launch, VcSBC, the app for phones and tablets that works as an online urban caretaking service from São Bernardo City Government, consolidates not only as a tool to request public services, but also as a way for the residents to help to take care of the city. Currently, there are 18.000 registered users and 114 categories of available services. During this period, by June 6th, 25.843 requests were made by users. VcSBC is the result of a partnership between the City Government and Instituto TIM.
The application, which allows citizens to request from internet, mobile phones and tablets services such as street sweeping and trees pruning, received in April this year the Governarte 2015, an international award granted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which recognizes innovative actions in public management.
For the Secretary of Administration and Administrative Modernization, José Augusto Guarnieri Pereira, VcSBC has the effect of awakening the citizenship, since the resident can increasingly participate in the public management, overseeing the work of the City Hall and ordering maintenance and care services to the city. “The app creates a new relationship of the resident with the municipality. As the request of the services can be made through the internet, without the need to go to the City Hall, VcSBC has a beneficial effect even on urban mobility”, he explained.
Some of the most requested services were redress of holes in roads, branches pruning, previous analysis for hucksters license, weeding, bush/grass cutting in streams, roads and public areas, abandoned vehicles and noise pollution. Requests go straight to the responsible area in the City Hall, which performs a technical analysis of the service, identifies the department, the category, and makes the appropriate referral to the solution of the problem.
“VcSBC first year of service is a result of the work of various sectors of the City Hall, which embraced the idea of innovation. It is also one of the most important projects developed in this management for the modernization of the administration. The BID award was also a very important fact, because we competed with more than 95 experiences in Latin America and Caribbean. For the coming years, we increasingly want to improve the system, develop other platforms and streamline services,” said the secretary.
The application has an icon on the City Hall website, through which you can also access the services. On smartphones and tablets, VcSBC can be installed for free on Android and iOS systems.
Status
According to the Rede Fácil coordinator, most of the requests made through VcSBC is completed. From the cumulative total of the year, 66% of requests were resolved, 28% are under technical analysis and 2% are open. “It is an agile and efficient system and, moreover, it contributes to public management in maintaining the city, as its own citizen indicates where the problems are in his neighborhood or nearby. Before the system, the citizen had to call or come in person to make the request and, often, it was not one or the other”, he said.
Fernando Santos Oliveira, a system user, resident in Parque Terra Nova II, considers himself one of the inspectors of the City Hall. Since he took knowledge of the app, eight months ago, he has already made almost 300 requests. “I’m impressed, since all had great results, with an average of five days to the solution. I have a feedback through the application itself on the order status. Then I go to the site to check. That’s it, all right! “He said. Oliveira said he has already had requests addressed to stop up holes, bus stop installation, lighting and crosswalk repainting.
Online
From the more than 25.000 accounts in the period of one year, 41% were made through internet and apps, 37,4% by free phone (156) and 21,6% in person. “The trend is to decrease the attendance rate in person and increase the internet rate. The number of users by phone tends to remain because they are related to the elderly profile, usually the one who has no access to or don’t use the internet”, said the coordinator of the Rede Fácil.
The app also allows features such as sending photos and report the problems found in the city. You simply need to register, choose the category of service, indicate the geographic location of the event and post a picture. From there, a protocol is generated and the resident is informed of the status of the request.
Credits of the article: São Bernardo do Campo City Government
