A recent Next American City article highlights the trend of cities around the country that have begun to utilize free online web applications in order to more easily connect with their residents.

Social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming increasingly popular methods of communication between local government and the community.  In addition to an official website, many cities are creating blogs through free websites such as Wordpress and Blogger, and City Council and committee meetings are increasingly appearing online through websites like YouTube.  The increase in access to the activities of city government creates a positive trend towards more accountability and transparency in local government.

Last year, the City of Pittsburgh and Yinzcam released the innovative iPhone application iBurgh for City of Pittsburgh residents, allowing them to quickly photograph and report problems to the City’s 311 service.  Pittsburgh also has begun to broadcast City Council meetings online through the City of Pittsburgh website.

Read more about free web applications for cities in the New American City article.

On Saturday, Councilman Bill Peduto was the keynote speaker at Pittsburgh Podcamp 4 at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. His speech focused on the emergence of e-democracy and how individuals can help change pittsburgh, the democratic process and the world through technology and new media.  Read more about this event in this Pop City article.

Podcamp is a community unconference that allows people to come together to discuss, and learn more about social media.  There have been 3 previous Podcamps in Pittsburgh, and Councilman Peduto has attended them all.  To learn more about Podcamp, visit the website.

Last Saturday, Councilman Bill Peduto spoke to the Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania Township Commissioners Association, presenting to them his plan for LED street lights in Pittsburgh.  The organization is made up of council members and other government leaders from local boroughs, whom come together to discuss issues within their respective boroughs.

Councilman Peduto’s goal is to make Pittsburgh a model for LED lighting, which can then spread to the boroughs around the City.   Read more about Councilman Peduto’s plan for LED lighting in Pittsburgh in A Bright, Green Idea for Pittsburgh

View Councilman Peduto’s presentation here.

Yesterday, City Councilman Bill Peduto gave a presentation at the CEOs for Cities National Urban Leaders Summit in Washington D.C.

Councilman Peduto joined other Pittsburgh leaders Scott Bricker from Bike Pittsburgh, Mariann Geyer from Point Park University, Erik Lingren from Venture Outdoors, and Eve Picker from no wall productions in a presentation entitled City Update: Pittsburgh’s Transformation.

The group discussed the urban renewal of Pittsburgh that has begun to receive national attention, and ultimately led to Pittsburgh’s selection as the site for last week’s G-20 summit.  They addressed how the changes have been made possible, and what is in store for Pittsburgh in the future.  They also discussed how the community has been enabled to take action, and what role new social media technology will play in this transformation.

Learn more about CEOs for Cities.

iBurgh has gotten a lot of attention for Pittsburgh, and the potential of creating an E-Democracy movement right here. The principle of E-Democracy  is based on the belief that technology like mobile applications, web-based social media, and electronic two-way communication, can be utilized to empower people to have more say in their government.  

The benefits for Pittsburgh are two-fold.  First, greater public participation means greater transparency and accountability as people take a greater role in their government.  Second, the technology produced can be exported from anywhere – Pittsburgh has the talent to build the industry here.  Unlike cable tv or phone complaint centers, the initial iBurgh application will be updated to become a two-way mobile communication between government and it’s citizens.  With the addition in the next few months of web-based data resources, embedded webcast council meetings, and initiatives to include both community organizations and the city’s tech firms, Pittsburgh will take a worldwide leadership role in this emerging industry.
 

The launch of iBurgh this week has received a lot of attention, and reports from all across the country and world are putting Pittsburgh in the spotlight.  Some of the articles from outside Pittsburgh include:
 

• Engadget - iBurgh complaint department for iPhone gets to the heart of city living
• Torontoist.com -  Pittsburgh and the Enviable iPhone App
• Boston Herald – Pittsburgh’s iPhone Complaint Feature Debuts
• Revolution Magazine – Need a Pothole Filled? There’s an App for That 
• The Apple Blog –  The iPhone Set to Do It’s Civic Duty with iBurgh
• Public CEO – New Technology Gives Residents a New Way to Complain to Local Government
• TMCnet – iBurgh Lets You Complain to City by Cell Phone
• Gadgetek –  iBurgh Complaint Department for iPhone Gets to the Heart of City Living

On Monday, Councilman Bill Peduto and YinzCam Inc. launched iBurgh, an iPhone application for the City of Pittsburgh.  This iPhone application allows users to take a picture of any 311 complaint they might have, such as a pothole, and send it directly to Pittsburgh’s 311 line from their iPhone.  

The launch of this iPhone application is just one more example of Pittsburgh’s emergence as a leader in the world of e-democracy.  
 

• Fall 2008 – Washington DC Launches “Apps for Democracy” Contest to Create iPhone and Facebook Apps
• June 2009 – San Francisco Announces a 311 Twitter Account
• June 2009 – New York City Announces a 311 Twitter Account
• July 2009- Washington DC Announces 2^nd Round of “Apps for Democracy”
• July 2009- NYC Announces “Big Apps” Competition Modeled After DC Contest
• July 2009 – Boston Mayor Announces Plans to Create Boston 311 iPhone App
• August 17, 2009 – Pittsburgh Becomes First Major City in America to Launch 311 iPhone App 

The use of social media as a mode of government/constituent communication is emerging as a very valuable tool.  The number of users, and younger generations of voters in particular, and  that can be reached through these outlets continues to grow at astounding rates.  Facebook added 100,000,000 users in less than 9 months, and 96% of Generation Y are regular users of social media.  Compared to other communication outlets:

• It took radio 38 years to get 50,000,000 listeners
• It took television 13 years to hit 50,000,000 viewers
• It only took 4 years for 50,000,000 people to visit the internet

Social media facts:

• If Facebook were a country, it would be the 4th largest in the world
• There are over 200,000,000 blogs
• iPod applications hit he 1,000,000,000 mark in just 9 months
• Youtube has over 100,000,000 videos and Wikipedia has over 13,000,000 articles

iBurgh is just the first initiative in establishing e-democracy programs – 3 more are scheduled to be released this year.  iBurgh will continue to expand to all platforms and all phones, following the YinzCam business model.  These e-democracy programs will become even more interactive, and updates will include ways for citizens to receive notices from government about issues or places they care about, among other things.

To learn more about YinzCam Inc. and iBurgh, check out this slide presentation by the President of YinzCam Inc., Priya Narasimhan.

Today, Councilman Bill Peduto will announce the release of iBurgh, a new iPhone application that will work to improve government response to constituent services, such as snow removal and fixing potholes. Councilman Peduto and the local company YinzCam Inc. have worked together to make this launch possible today.

This application will allow constituents to use their iPhone to take a picture of a pothole, or other concern, and instantly submit a picture and location along with the complaint to the city’s 311 system.

Pittsburgh is the first major city in the county to utilize this type of government integrated iPhone application.

An Associated Press story published this weekend, Pittsburgh Reinvents Itself through Green Economy, discusses the growing presence of green technology in Pittsburgh, and the resulting transformation of Pittsburgh’s previous image as a smoky, post-industrial city.

The article highlights the fact that over 2,600 green companies have made Pittsburgh their home, and according to the Pittsburgh Technology Council, of the 183,000 technology jobs located in Pittsburgh in 2005, one-third of them were in green technology. The article also notes that “green jobs may also help reverse Pittsburgh’s massive population decline,” as green technology companies continue to grow and create new jobs.

Councilman Bill Peduto believes that this is Pittsburgh’s opportunity to become a leader in the rapidly expanding world of green technology. “Pittsburgh could become a model not just for the Rust Belt, but for post-industrial cities throughout the world,” He said.

The article references Councilman Peduto’s green legislative efforts, including a bill recently approved by City Council that will require LEED certification standards to be met in projects that use city TIF financing. Councilman Peduto has continuously fought to further a green agenda in City Council. He introduced a plan to bring LED lighting to the city, saving both large amounts of energy and taxpayer dollars, and has also fought for environmental issues like hillside cleanup and preservation. Councilman Peduto was one of the driving forces behind the creation and implementation of the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan, among many other green legislative achievements in his 8 years as a City Councilman.

Check out the full article to learn more about green technology in Pittsburgh.

At 1pm today, Councilman Bill Peduto will be holding a press conference before a special session of City Council on the use of technology to advance democracy.  Technology and new media, such as a government iPhone application, live streaming of government meetings online, and deliberative polling and instant feedback by constituents during government meetings, can be used to bring the residents of Pittsburgh into the democratic process in more ways than ever before.

Today’s special session, beginning at 1:30pm, will focus on discussions by leading experts in the new media and technology fields on these topics and more, including:

• Dr. Priya Narasimhan- Carnegie Mellon University, creator of YinzCam technology
• Paul Fireman – Vivo
• Brad Winney – Panopto, Inc.
• Jay Resio – MyGov365

To watch a live streaming of this meeting online, beginning at 1:30pm today – click here – and then select “View Live” underneath the section E Democracy.