Spigit crowdsourcing tech takes aim at government
By Jenifer Reinhardt
However brilliant America’s forefathers were, they did not foresee the day when democracy would truly be “by the people.” But with a growing belief that more ideas are better, today’s technology is enabling our democracy to approach its purest form. While government websites embrace social media to make communication with citizens easier than ever, with access to new software, government by the people may be ready for launch.
Today the software management firm Spigit and IT collaborative specialists Metro Star Systems are announcing the expansion of their General Services Administration contract to allow government organizations to purchase their software on GSA IT-70. The software will provide the agency with a platform from which it can communicate with its citizens and constituents in a transparent, structured and actionable manner. The technology might just prove to be more effective than the black hole that was the suggestion box at city hall, although perhaps not as entertaining to read.
“Metro Star is excited to announce that Spigit’s innovation software is available to our government customers,” said Ali Reza Manouchehri, CEO of Metro Star Systems. “Spigit has a history of providing social software to top Fortune 1000 enterprises and businesses. With our partnership government agencies will now have access to a broader range of social media products from Metro Star Systems to connect and communicate with their citizens and constituents.”
We asked Scott Anderson, Vice President of Partner Relationships at Spigit, when they considered that their software would be a good fit for the government. “Our analytics have revealed government organizations in the US and around the world have been researching Spigit’s capabilities on Spigit.com for quite a while. We realized the power the Spigit SaaS platform could bring to government agencies to enable them to empower and connect with citizens, and allow them to create and collaborate on innovative and actionable ideas." Proving that you don’t have to be big in order to be innovative, the folks down in Manor, TX, population 6,500, have been using the Spigit software in their own city government. Working closely with their partner, the city opened the website Manor Labs where citizens can log in and submit ideas. “We wanted to demonstrate to other cities how to build a sustainable innovation platform,” said Dustin Haisler, Chief Information Officer of Manor. Anderson told OhMyGov that “the city of Manor, TX is using Spigit for Government to ask citizens for input in eight categories, including IT services, the court system, police, utility billing, and public works. Citizens get virtual currency for their efforts --- called "Innobucks" --- and can cash in these rewards for a ride with the police chief or even a rare custom-framed flag of the state of Texas. The effort is early, but thus far, the City of Manor, TX has received 68 ideas, with police being the most popular department.”
So far at Manor Labs the ideas submitted have covered a wide spectrum, from serious proposals like this --- “As a new form of economic development, the city of Manor could utilize augmented reality to allow prospective businesses to visualize how vacant land could potentially be developed” --- to less serious ones like “It’s my understanding that the water from the old downtown Artisan well is in the neighborhood of 180 degrees. If the hot water is still flowing, why not uncap it and open a resort offering hot artisan baths.” (The hot baths are currently leading the augmented reality 11 promotions to 9).
The benefits of this software, according to Anderson, are multifold. “Engaging with citizens’ results in a better allocation of resources, as well as improved efficiency and operations, as government learns what citizens want, sometimes at a neighborhood by neighborhood level. When used internally, Spigit helps government employees in exactly the same way; by making their ideas become a reality. It is empowering for individuals to believe they can make a difference, particularly in large organizations where employees can sometimes feel that their ideas are not valued.”
The ability for government organizations to purchase professional crowd-sourcing software is just another step in the direction of the “open and participatory” government that US CIO Vivek Kundra envisions. The success of the program in Manor is proof that it can work at many different levels both large and small. “The results can be incredible, where a simple idea evolves through our process to become something that vastly improves government services, or saves taxpayers money,” said Anderson.
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