Citizen App

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council (ANBC) first engaged with Scaffold Digital in early 2018 to design and develop a new mobile app for both iOS and Android as well as a bespoke content management system. The new app was commissioned to help ANBC better engage with citizens in their catchment area, making it as easy as possible for people living in the local area find out information about their local councillors, bin collections, local services and much more. The new ANBC app needed to be developed in tandem with the new council website as they were keen to develop an API link to pull the most up to date content into the mobile app without the council having to enter the same content in multiple locations.

PLATFORMS

  • Apple Store Icon
  • Google Play Store Icon

CATEGORIES

App
Software

OBJECTIVES

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council wanted to develop an app that could be easily managed by the council to help them better engage and communicate with citizens in the local area. The app needed to be developed for iOS and Android with API links to a Kentico based website to allow us to automatically pull data into the app. ANBC wanted to ensure that their administration staff did not have to enter the same content in multiple locations, so where content would have been duplicated we developed the relevant API links to pull this content into the app. The IT team at ANBC were also aware that the website did not include some content that they thought would be useful for citizens in the local area to have access to via an app. Therefore, they had a requirement for a bespoke content management system that would allow them to pull things like ArcGIS data into the app to display their local services.

They also had a requirement for a bespoke notifications module, that would allow the council to contact users of the app in an instant with any content they wanted, for example, update on requests to the council via their Te-Care platform, emergency news in the area or updates to the app. Te-Care is a platform used specifically by councils and it is designed to allow their citizens to report/request things like, dog fouling or a bulk waste collection. ANBC had a requirement for us to develop an API integration with Te- Care, so that citizens could carry out a report or request via the app and receive the relevant updates from the council to their device.

OUTCOME

ANBC now have an app for iOS and Android with a cloud-based management system. The app has successful API links with the council website and their external administration system Te-Care which has allowed the council to encompass everything they need to allow their citizens to fully engage with the council as easily as possible. The app will allow users to explore all local services, get directions and find out more information about the facilities available to them in their local area, all of which can be updated in real-time through the management system we have provided to ANBC.