The City of Portland is pleased to announce the release of PDX Reporter, an application (app) for Android based smart phones. Now residents who use Android phones can report and request service calls to City assets and publicly maintained infrastructure. The decision to create an open sourced Android app follows the successful release of a similar iPhone app in February 2010, and is aimed at increasing transparency through open data and improving communications with Portland residents.
“This is a way to instantly connect with your City. If you see a problem in your neighborhood, you don’t have to wait to report it. You can make a report instantly. I encourage Portlanders to download the PDX Reporter app and send us information on the issues you see around your community,” says Mayor Sam Adams.
People wanting to submit a report can select one of the five report types, take a photo, locate the issue via the map, add comments, and send their report directly to the appropriate bureau for resolution. Once submitted, the person making the report will receive updates directly to their phone regarding the status of their issue(s). PDX Reporter is the second open source app released by the City of Portland this year, the first being a similar app for the iPhone. The City is working on an Open Data Initiative, together with regional data owners such as Metro, Multnomah County, TriMet, Portland Public Schools and others to coordinate the release of high value datasets to the public domain. The objective is to make various sets of public data freely available in electronic form to allow the community to develop innovative applications that use this data in interesting and informative ways.
PDX Reporter is a collaborative effort by the Bureau of Technology Services, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Portland Parks and Recreation and the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. The app can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace. For more information and a fact sheet regarding PDX Reporter for the Android platform, please go to: http://www.portlandonline.com/android_facts.