My Smart City empowers Tshwane residents to take charge in city upliftment and repair

The free platform allows city residents to manage their own service delivery complaints - such as potholes, water and power outages - by enabling them to log and track service delivery issues in real-time.

The launch of My Smart City in Tshwane follows the successful launch of the platform in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Both cities have seen a three to fourfold improvement in the turnaround times to resolve service delivery issues, according to Acumen Software, the developers of the platform. 

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The improved turnaround times are due to My Smart City’s dedicated dispatch centre that follows up on behalf of residents that have logged service delivery issues through My Smart City platform, as well as City officials responding to focused calls being logged by My Smart City.

“There is a large gap between the expectations of city residents and the services that are being delivered by their Municipalities. It’s clear that citizens are frustrated, and that cities are overwhelmed. That’s why we have developed a free platform for citizens to report, track and resolve their service delivery concerns by engaging their cities through the My Smart City platform. We expect to add significant value through our Dispatch Centre, providing citizens with the support they need and the cities with a helpful hand,” says CEO of Acumen Software, Joao Zoio. 

My Smart City is a disruptive tech platform that is available in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Cape Town for residents to address issues that concern them. This is the first time that citizens have full visibility of open service delivery issues that have been reported. As citizens register in numbers, they play a direct role in the upliftment and repair of their city’s infrastructure and public spaces. 

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Tshwane residents can now log issues such as:

• Interrupted water supply;
• Electricity outages or problems with electricity supply;
• Street light repairs and outages 
• Waste and garbage removal;
• Maintenance of roads and repairs of potholes;
• Requests to clean streets and public spaces; 
• And more

While the My Smart City teams are not responsible for the execution of resolving service delivery issues directly, their dedicated dispatch and support teams escalate issues to service providers to see issues resolved. My Smart City lifts the burden from the citizen having to follow up on their reported matters. The easy-to-use, seamless and transparent platform gives citizens a voice and promotes accountability through technology. 

 “Many of the historical systems that our cities use are seen as voids and pacifiers where complaints get lost and buried in their systems. My Smart City escalates and pushes for resolution of issues through our Dispatch Centre, escalation of issues within City structures and media pressure with the publication of statistics on the City’s service performance,” says Zoio. 

My Smart City encourages Tshwane residents to download the My Smart City app, register and log issues as they encounter them. Tshwane residents now have a voice with their city through a platform that is citizen focused and that can generate real action and meaningful change.

Municipalities are just the beginning for Acumen Software. In future, the global utilities software management experts will focus on enhancing customer service and user experience for citizens that rely on telecommunications, transport, and ICT companies.