City approves new 311 services

Last month, we asked the Austin City Council to delay action on purchasing additional 311 services, so the community could have further input. Since then, we've met with city staff to discuss the proposal and offer our feedback.

This morning, the project came back before the Austin City Council. Based on our discussions, we supported the proposal. The City Council approved it unanimously, and, per our urging, directed city staff to continue working with the community to develop proposals for third-party add-on apps.

This means Austin will be adding an Open 311 gateway to its 311 Customer Service Request (CSR) system. 311 data will be integrated into the city's open data portal. There will be an open, competitive process to identify best-of-breed applications for mobile and online 311 services.

The greatest result, however, may be that we demonstrated the role the public can play in big civic technology projects. Our involvement helped move this project forward, and it's doing so with a mandate for continued public involvement in these new 311 services.

You can view the video of the City Council meeting here: http://austintx.swagit.com/play/02142013-522/#8

The previous night, the  Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission discussed the 311 project.

You can view the presentation with information on the 311 proposal here: http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=183688

You can view the video of the commission meeting here: http://austintx.swagit.com/play/02132013-784/#5

Thanks to all the Open Austin members who participated in this process -- and thanks to everybody who contacted City Council to support a public process for 311 services.