Back in 2011 I posted about how a team of students from Kuwait came second place in the GCC Microsoft Imagine Cup. The idea that got them there was the creation of an App that would use crowd sourcing to inform the authorities of various problems around Kuwait. Using your phone you could snap a picture of overflowing garbage, large pot holes, accidents etc.. and then send the photos to the proper authorities with a GeoTag of the location.
Fast forward a couple of years and the Riyadh municipality just launched an iPhone App that does all of that. The screenshots above are in Arabic but the App also has English. Another example of a great local idea that gets implemented by another GCC country. [Link]
via @ahmed
8 replies on “Saudi iPhone App to report citywide problems”
Taking a photo and getting someone to act on it are two different things. Great idea if it works. Congratulations to the developers.
Saudi you say? I think the best way to use this app is to send them a satellite image of the entire country. Fix this please 😀
EPIC! 😀
I don’t think that it’s going to be effectively utilized, since people don’t have an incentive to use it (except for social responsibility which is non present in 99.99999% of people here).
Kuwait needs local hackerspaces and similar groups that will nuture talent and interest.
2 ladies walking down the road …
They see a guy puking …. They rush to pull out their smartphones …
2 seconds later half of Kuwait see him on Instagram …
2 guys walking down the road … They see 20 people fighting with knives ..
They pull out their smartphones …
Half the world sees it on youtube half a minute later …
Then they walk away without calling the police …
GO SAUDI <3
Wow!!!! Kuwait needs that more than anything since every complaint I make to the ministry goes unanswered!