Honolulu, HI Created a Lean, Clean, Smart, Future-focused Cit

Overview

A few years ago, then mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii, Peter Carlisle said he wanted to work towards creating a lean, clean, and smart city that is looking towards the future. Various departments throughout the city took on the mayor’s leadership challenge and started developing initiatives to connect residents to government with the hope of making Honolulu the best city it could be. However, they soon realized they needed technology to make it work.

“Government can’t solve every problem; we need help from the community and through apps we can facilitate that…. transparency is a large factor, but citizen engagement is the ultimate goal. If we make it easier for people to take bigger leadership roles in their community then we all win.”

Forest Frizzell

SITUATION

Using Smartphones to Develop a Smart City

Since the city serves a large population, Honolulu wanted to make sure whatever solution they chose included a mobile app, so residents could quickly and easily connect with various government departments and resources without always having to visit city hall. The city hoped that since Honolulu has one of the largest mobile phone adoption rates in the United States, they could use a mobile app to quickly show residents the positive impacts of digitizing government to solve common problems, which would then lead to more trust and transparency in government and further engagement.

SOLUTION

Leverage Technology to Connect Residents Where They Are

The city of Honolulu’s branded mobile app, Honolulu 311, is powered by Granicus’ digital government service platform and allows residents to use their mobile phones to report abandoned vehicles, broken streetlights, illegal dumping, and other issues. While the city heavily leverages the Honolulu 311 mobile app, it also relies on the platform’s centralized online hub to manage all interactions with residents, including those that come from the web, telephone, email, and in-person, so everyone can connect and receive services. Using technology has helped add a layer of real-time engagement between community members and government.

RESULTS

Driving Engagement with Award-Winning Digital Programs

By opening more channels of engagement and tapping into the knowledge base of its residents, the city of Honolulu has worked with its community to address some of its more critical and complex challenges. The city of Honolulu has already seen a positive impacts from the app, especially in terms of engagement and the way people view government. Honolulu has received a lot of positive press and awards related to the launch of Honolulu 311, including a Sunlight Award for government transparency and recognition from the Center of Digital Governance as a prominent digital city. Residents are also jumping into action by participating in CityCamp Honolulu and Hackathon Honolulu events.