Software AG: Medellin City Gives a Voice to All Citizens through Digital Innovation

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Software AG SOW acknowledged today multiple awards received by Medellin, Colombia's second largest city, in regenerating the municipality and the role IT played in driving economic growth and social inclusion. Amongst other awards, Medellin was acknowledged as “Innovative City of the Year” by the Urban Land Institute and received the United Nations sustainable transport award.

Medellin has introduced many infrastructure improvements as part of its vision of being a model city by 2030, including a flexible and citizen-focused IT infrastructure. Aligned with the Colombian Government's online citizen services program, Medellin now offers its citizens an integrated “Requests, Complaints and Claims” service. The service provides personal, online or mobile citizen interfaces and has resulted in an increase in the number of requests processed from ten thousand to nearly ninety thousand per year.

Flexible IT Infrastructure Delivers Clear ROI

Gabriel Werner Brandt, Director of Planning for Information Technology at the Municipality of Medellin, said: “In the government sector the transition to a digital enterprise must be staged and gradually introduced, maintaining focus on not just the needs of the citizen but also on state employees and acknowledging the political dimension. For this we needed a flexible IT infrastructure that can leverage the many investments we have made over the years. We needed an infrastructure that is easy and quick to implement and adapt, with a clear return on investment, for which the city is willing to pay. Software AG provides that.”

Medellin Regarded As World's Most Innovative Urban Center

The Urban Land Institute (ULI), an independent global nonprofit research and education organization, provides leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. In conjunction with the Wall Street Journal and Citi, the ULI recognized Medellin as the world's most innovative urban center implementing innovative solutions to problems such as mobility and environmental sustainability.

Jay Johnson, President and CEO, Software AG North America and Member of Software AG's Executive Board, noted: “Medellin is a great example of how a city can significantly improve the quality of life for its inhabitants. By using the right technology, Medellin is making dramatic changes to people's lives by building a strong foundation for sustainable economic growth and equal access to services and opportunities for everyone.”

Medellin gains UN Recognition

Medellin has also been recognized by the United Nations for the multiple transport options now offered to citizens. Its new urban transport infrastructure has opened jobs and schools to the previously isolated communities living in outlaying mountainside areas with travel times for the majority of its citizens being cut from more than two hours to just a few minutes.

The principal of including all citizens in the city's economic revival through an innovative physical infrastructure is mirrored in its IT infrastructure through its digital citizen service platform. The platform gives all citizens a voice in city hall enabling them to make petitions, claims and complaints to the municipality either online, through mobile devices or face-to-face, and follow the progress of each request to its conclusion. The requests can concern any aspect of the citizen's legal rights, including behavior or service provided by state employees or any improvements needed to the city's infrastructure.

Software AG webMethods Suite Provides Robust Infrastructure Foundation

Jay Johnson continued: “Medellin implemented Software AG's webMethods process automation and integration suite to link the new citizen service interfaces with automated and integrated processes. It also integrated existing IT systems and geographically validated information from the city's Georeference system. With over 7,500 requests per month being processed, the benefits of the new services have been rapidly recognized by the citizens of Medellin, the ultimate sign of the success of this project.”

Completed in 2011, the new infrastructure has delivered an almost tenfold increase in the number of processed requests with the possibility of easy additional expansion. Today, the Medellin City Hall has successfully integrated 46 different local government procedures on the single requests platform, all within 2 years, and is reviewing further new business cases to create new programs offering better services to its citizens.

About Software AG

Software AG (Frankfurt TecDAX: SOW) helps organizations achieve their business objectives faster. The company's big data, integration and business process technologies enable customers to drive operational efficiency, modernize their systems and optimize processes for smarter decisions and better service. Building on over 40 years of customer-centric innovation, the company is ranked as a "leader" in fourteen market categories, fueled by core product families Adabas-Natural, ARIS, Alfabet, Apama, Terracotta and webMethods. Software AG has more than 4,600 employees in 70 countries and had revenues of €973 million in 2013.

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