Young developers showcase smartphone apps to address civic issues
Software to help tackle tourism, industrial, traffic police, water and sanitation sectors
Software to help tackle tourism, industrial, traffic police, water and sanitation sectors. PHOTO: ONLINE
PESHAWAR:
To improve service delivery across the province, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has developed a set of smartphone applications which hope to boost and solve issues with the tourism, industrial, traffic police, water and sanitation sectors.
A public demonstration of the applications was held at the K-P IT Board (KPITB) incubator ‘Durshal’ on Tuesday. The apps are the result of a collaboration between the KPITB, Code for Pakistan, and the World Bank.
The apps were developed by fellows hired under the six-month-long fellowship ‘K-P Civil Innovation Fellowship Programme’ in March. The programme brought together researchers, designers and developers to build the apps, increase citizen engagement, and force the government to innovate in the public service delivery sector.
While the developers hoped that their applications would be implemented by the relevant departments by September this year, no officials from any of the concerned department attended the demonstration.
‘Safa Pekhawar’
With Peshawar generating around 800 to 100 tonnes of garbage every day, not all of it is properly disposed of, causing drains to be blocked while raising health issues.
‘Safa Pekhawar’ or clean Peshawar, an Android-based application, can be used by the people to register complaints about uncollected waste and other sanitary issues.
“Now citizens can take photographs of garbage, water problems in the city and upload it as a complaint via the app,” said Maria Ali whose team developed the app for the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP).
She added the complainants can also track the status of their complaints through the same application. Further, she said that complaints will be processed by the Management Information Systems administrator at the WSSP and direct the concerned authorities to assign field staff to resolve the issue.
App tourism
With security plaguing the tourism industry in the province, Fasihul Hasan has developed an app to attract tourists. “The app will have everything [information] available about the lush green valleys of the province, hotels reservations, tracks and transportation as well as the weather conditions of the area,” explained Hasan, as he noted that during the Eidul Fitr vacations, as many as 2.5 million people had visited scenic valleys of the province.
Hasan added that the app also contains details of tourist attractions in the province as well virtual tours of desired locations which can be accessed from their phones. “It is a simple means to showcase the natural beauty of K-P so that not only locals but international visitors can also start exploring these wonderful sights,” he added.
Traffic congestion
For the urban commuter, a traffic jam can be their worst nightmare. Sana Firdous and her four-member team, have developed an Android-based app whereby people can check to see the traffic situation before leaving home and plan their routes accordingly.
Apart from informing commuters about traffic congestion, people can also lodge complaints against any traffic violation. “Traffic police’s misbehaviour, corruption or any other injustice can now be brought to notice of higher authorities through this app,” she said.
Firdous said that the app can also be used to track the progress of traffic tickets and for the traffic police to disseminate information about the different kinds of traffic signs and other public information.
Record digitisation
With an eye on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Nazimuddin and his team have developed an application for the Directorate of Industries and Commerce and businesses, allowing them to minimise the time and effort it takes to register any company or organisation.
Explaining the workings of the app, Nazimuddin said that in the first step, a user can get the form from the Industries office to apply to open up a business. In the second step, they can submit their form along with other requisite information. Then the concerned authorities can respond with the decision on the application.
“A lot of new companies will open after the CPEC which will increase the burden on industries department. In such conditions, this app, if implemented, will facilitate the citizen,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2017.
To improve service delivery across the province, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has developed a set of smartphone applications which hope to boost and solve issues with the tourism, industrial, traffic police, water and sanitation sectors.
A public demonstration of the applications was held at the K-P IT Board (KPITB) incubator ‘Durshal’ on Tuesday. The apps are the result of a collaboration between the KPITB, Code for Pakistan, and the World Bank.
The apps were developed by fellows hired under the six-month-long fellowship ‘K-P Civil Innovation Fellowship Programme’ in March. The programme brought together researchers, designers and developers to build the apps, increase citizen engagement, and force the government to innovate in the public service delivery sector.
While the developers hoped that their applications would be implemented by the relevant departments by September this year, no officials from any of the concerned department attended the demonstration.
‘Safa Pekhawar’
With Peshawar generating around 800 to 100 tonnes of garbage every day, not all of it is properly disposed of, causing drains to be blocked while raising health issues.
‘Safa Pekhawar’ or clean Peshawar, an Android-based application, can be used by the people to register complaints about uncollected waste and other sanitary issues.
“Now citizens can take photographs of garbage, water problems in the city and upload it as a complaint via the app,” said Maria Ali whose team developed the app for the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP).
She added the complainants can also track the status of their complaints through the same application. Further, she said that complaints will be processed by the Management Information Systems administrator at the WSSP and direct the concerned authorities to assign field staff to resolve the issue.
App tourism
With security plaguing the tourism industry in the province, Fasihul Hasan has developed an app to attract tourists. “The app will have everything [information] available about the lush green valleys of the province, hotels reservations, tracks and transportation as well as the weather conditions of the area,” explained Hasan, as he noted that during the Eidul Fitr vacations, as many as 2.5 million people had visited scenic valleys of the province.
Hasan added that the app also contains details of tourist attractions in the province as well virtual tours of desired locations which can be accessed from their phones. “It is a simple means to showcase the natural beauty of K-P so that not only locals but international visitors can also start exploring these wonderful sights,” he added.
Traffic congestion
For the urban commuter, a traffic jam can be their worst nightmare. Sana Firdous and her four-member team, have developed an Android-based app whereby people can check to see the traffic situation before leaving home and plan their routes accordingly.
Apart from informing commuters about traffic congestion, people can also lodge complaints against any traffic violation. “Traffic police’s misbehaviour, corruption or any other injustice can now be brought to notice of higher authorities through this app,” she said.
Firdous said that the app can also be used to track the progress of traffic tickets and for the traffic police to disseminate information about the different kinds of traffic signs and other public information.
Record digitisation
With an eye on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Nazimuddin and his team have developed an application for the Directorate of Industries and Commerce and businesses, allowing them to minimise the time and effort it takes to register any company or organisation.
Explaining the workings of the app, Nazimuddin said that in the first step, a user can get the form from the Industries office to apply to open up a business. In the second step, they can submit their form along with other requisite information. Then the concerned authorities can respond with the decision on the application.
“A lot of new companies will open after the CPEC which will increase the burden on industries department. In such conditions, this app, if implemented, will facilitate the citizen,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2017.