City: Upgrade Makes Philly 311 Smarter, More Social
By KYW Tech Editor Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Just like your smartphone alerts you when a software upgrade is available, the city is putting out the word that Philly 311 has gotten an overhaul. Officials say customers are getting a smarter, more social service.
Whether you dial, touch, or type your way to 311.
"We have the ability now to capture better data and make better decisions as to what's happening within each neighborhood."
City Chief Customer Service Officer Rosetta Lue says that means better maps to pinpoint problems, and a way to spur real change from virtual platforms.
"You can imagine getting online and saying, 'hey -- I want to organize this event, I want to help build a playground, I want to do different things to help improve the neighborhood.' We're now providing the accessibility for you to do that."
(Reporter:) "Almost like a social network for the neighborhoods."
"Exactly. Kind of like Facebook for government," said Lue.
The upgrade comes thanks to Unisys, and is built on the Salesforce cloud platform.
___
The announcement came at the Philly Innovates Summit, where the stars of the show were Oden, 10 and John, 13, both students at the String Theory Charter School.
"We're using iPads that the school got us," said John.
They won the lunchtime coding competition, but are looking toward the future
"I want to be an electrical engineer," said Oden.
"I'm hoping to become an engineer for military design -- not like nuclear weapons, but something that can make the world a safer place, to stop crime and terrorist threats," said John.
