More and more Swiss municipalities are turning to mobile government
Editorial
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December 7, 2016
Internet usage is increasingly shifting to mobile devices. According to the Y&R Group Switzerland's "Media Use Index", 85% of Swiss people now surf the internet on mobile devices. This is a decisive criterion for the public sector to also enable dialog between authorities and citizens using mobile devices. In addition to the sheer mobility, mobile devices also offer other decisive technical advantages, such as location tracking, push notifications and integrated cameras, which open up new dimensions for digital public services. If a user sees a need for official action in the municipal infrastructure, for example a defective street lamp, illegally disposed of waste or an overflowing fountain, they can quickly take a picture of it with their cell phone, send a defect report with the exact location to the administration at the touch of a button and later follow the progress of the repair on an ongoing basis. Just as practical is the municipal waste calendar with push reminder function, which alerts the app user in good time to upcoming bulky goods and waste paper collections or green waste collection, making yellowed paper lists on the fridge unnecessary. And, of course, it is particularly practical for new residents or visitors if the route to an institution or place of interest can be linked directly to a map/navigation system on the cell phone.Affordable even for small communitiesAround 150 municipalities, cantons and authorities now use solutions from Winterthur-based Anthrazit ag. On the one hand, apps have been developed for cities with large populations such as Winterthur, St. Gallen and Köniz, but more and more small and even micro-municipalities such as Bözberg, Büron and Sutz-Lattrigen in Bieler Seeland, probably the smallest app municipality in Switzerland to date with just 1,413 inhabitants, are also being added. "The size of a municipality does not prevent it from keeping up with the times," smiles Sutz-Lattrigen Municipal President Christian Gnägi, "and the app enables a mutual exchange of information between citizens (e.g. via village notifier in the event of littering) and the municipality (e.g. via push message for the municipal meeting) at any time."The future of eGov is mGovWinterthur-based anthrazit ag, in which around a dozen employees are involved, made decent gains in 2016. anthrazit entrepreneur Christian Schwengeler is one of the pioneers of the mobile internet and exhibited a fully networked car at the Orbit IT trade fair back in 2005. "Our extensive research and development work and the associated large investments are slowly but surely starting to pay off," emphasizes Schwengeler, "we are now ideally positioned, the public sector sees the need as part of the federal government's e-government mandate and it is therefore only a matter of time before all municipalities will rely on mobile government."
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Internet usage is increasingly shifting to mobile devices. According to the Y&R Group Switzerland's "Media Use Index", 85% of Swiss people now surf the internet on mobile devices. This is a decisive criterion for the public sector to also enable dialog between authorities and citizens using mobile devices. In addition to the sheer mobility, mobile devices also offer other decisive technical advantages, such as location tracking, push notifications and integrated cameras, which open up new dimensions for digital public services. If a user sees a need for official action in the municipal infrastructure, for example a defective street lamp, illegally disposed of waste or an overflowing fountain, they can quickly take a picture of it with their cell phone, send a defect report with the exact location to the administration at the touch of a button and later follow the progress of the repair on an ongoing basis. Just as practical is the municipal waste calendar with push reminder function, which alerts the app user in good time to upcoming bulky goods and waste paper collections or green waste collection, making yellowed paper lists on the fridge unnecessary. And, of course, it is particularly practical for new residents or visitors if the route to an institution or place of interest can be linked directly to a map/navigation system on the cell phone.Affordable even for small communitiesAround 150 municipalities, cantons and authorities now use solutions from Winterthur-based Anthrazit ag. On the one hand, apps have been developed for cities with large populations such as Winterthur, St. Gallen and Köniz, but more and more small and even micro-municipalities such as Bözberg, Büron and Sutz-Lattrigen in Bieler Seeland, probably the smallest app municipality in Switzerland to date with just 1,413 inhabitants, are also being added. "The size of a municipality does not prevent it from keeping up with the times," smiles Sutz-Lattrigen Municipal President Christian Gnägi, "and the app enables a mutual exchange of information between citizens (e.g. via village notifier in the event of littering) and the municipality (e.g. via push message for the municipal meeting) at any time."The future of eGov is mGovWinterthur-based anthrazit ag, in which around a dozen employees are involved, made decent gains in 2016. anthrazit entrepreneur Christian Schwengeler is one of the pioneers of the mobile internet and exhibited a fully networked car at the Orbit IT trade fair back in 2005. "Our extensive research and development work and the associated large investments are slowly but surely starting to pay off," emphasizes Schwengeler, "we are now ideally positioned, the public sector sees the need as part of the federal government's e-government mandate and it is therefore only a matter of time before all municipalities will rely on mobile government."
