The second phase rollout of the My Smart City citizen platform will focus on job creation through private services that will be offered on the platform, like car washing, dog walking, gardening, pool maintenance or tutoring, says asset and resource management software company Acumen Software CEO Joao Zoio.

“Each contractor will be validated and vetted by the My Smart City team through background checks. For people struggling to find work, the platform will offer the opportunity to connect them to job opportunities and market their services.

“The goal is to create 50 000 jobs over five years through disruptive services. This is going to be very important because the only way we are going to solve our current economic problems is to create jobs. To expect government to create all the jobs is unrealistic and impossible. People need to find ways to create work for themselves,” he notes.

The My Smart City platform will evolve and develop over time, with citizens, as the enablers, providing suggestions and directing the platform according to their needs.

The platform will, in time, include an ‘in the city’ offering, which will give citizens the opportunity to find out what’s happening in their area of interest and to set their parameters and interests so that they can participate in and attend community events.

“We are also exploring ways to reward active citizens on the platform. Citizens could become local superheroes by making sure they are logging all the service delivery issues in their communities. This will encourage further engagement from citizens,” says Zoio.

The My Smart City platform will evolve into a communal social platform that connects citizens to those living in their local community so that they can connect with others whose interests are similar to their own.

The first phase of the My Smart City citizen platform was launched in July and the application (app) is available in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. The platform has been integrated with Cape Town's call management system, and Johannesburg and Cape Town have seen a three- to fourfold improvement in the turnaround times to resolve service delivery issues, according to Acumen Software’s data.

The free platform allows city residents to manage their own service delivery complaints, such as potholes, water, traffic light or power outages, by enabling them to log and track service delivery issues in real-time.

My Smart City enables any registered user in these cities to log, manage and track municipal services, as well as engage emergency services.

Acumen Software’s long-standing relationship with cities, parastatals and corporations means the company has the experience and know-how to launch a citizen’s platform of this nature.

“A lot of the current service solutions open to citizens and city residents are voids and pacifiers built by cities that do not assist customers or citizens in getting service delivery issues resolved. With the My Smart City platform, we want to improve services to citizens, increase accountability and report back on when a problem is going to be solved so citizens are not logging their service delivery issues into a void,” says Zoio.

The improved turnaround times for the resolution of service delivery issues are as a result of the My Smart City’s dedicated dispatch centre that follows up on behalf of residents who have logged service delivery issues through My Smart City, as well as city officials responding to focused calls that are being logged by My Smart City teams.

The My Smart City app and platform are closing the loop on outstanding service delivery queries and give citizens proper feedback on their reported matters. It is not a city platform, but a citizen’s solution and, while the platform cannot force a city’s service providers or municipalities to change, the platform’s dispatch centre takes citizen’s calls and report on issues and faults, and also follows up on the status of reported matters. The team reports a three to four-fold acceleration in the resolution of service delivery issues.

“With My Smart City, we have created a platform to leverage and channel citizen power. The citizens of our cities are the ones that hold the power, but if citizens don’t stand together, then change won’t happen. Using a disruptive technological platform, we are putting citizens in the driving seat by making it convenient for them to be part of the solution to their problems,” he says.

Through the platform, citizens have visibility of the issues that have been reported. While the My Smart City platform does not have the responsibility of managing service delivery issues directly, the easy, seamless and transparent platform gives citizens a voice and promotes accountability.

Accountability is driven by technology and the Acumen Software dispatch centre team, which is a conduit between citizens and their municipalities, to ensure that issues are followed up on and resolved.

“My Smart City has been developed as an enabler to shine a light on where our cities need the most attention in terms of repairs to infrastructure. We want to partner with local government officials to help alleviate bottlenecks and pressure so they can focus on deploying resources in the most effective manner possible. The end game is to lift the appearance and functionality of not just an area but the nation,” says Acumen Software COO Kennedy Mogotsi.

The platform will expand its services and offerings to eventually become a one-stop-shop for city residents to find work, procure services, organise community events and engage with community members.

My Smart City is powered by Forcelink, which is used by the City of Cape Town to manage the MyCiTi Bus infrastructure and by the City of Johannesburg’s City Power to manage outages and maintenance work on its electricity network.