County Council is first with free iPhone app
Warwickshire County Council is the first local authority in the country to offer a free app on the iPhone.
The app was officially launched to help with the county council’s mission to reach as many people as possible with information and guidance.
And it has now been confirmed that the county council is the first in the country to offer the free iPhone app.
The county council has launched the Warwickshire iPhone Application as a new way for citizens of the county and visitors to the area to find out about the information and services available from Warwickshire County Council, no matter where they are.
One key feature will includes a location function where the app will be able to work out where the user is and tell them instantly where nearest facilities are, such as country parks or recycling centres.
It contains up to the minute news and events information, details on how to find key services, and help in contacting the authority.
More information about downloading the app for free and other ways to stay up to date is available from the Warwickshire website at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/iphone
Features of the iPhone application include:
up to the minute news stories and local events from Warwickshire County Council;
information on all job vacancies with the organisation;
information on school closures within Warwickshire;
information on Warwickshire services, including recycling, museums, libraries, country parks and one-stop shops;
the ability to find your nearest service, locate it on a map or even get directions from your current location.
The development of this iPhone app is part of the council’s work into looking at how best to use new technologies.
Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Resources, said: “This iPhone app is just a first step and we’d appreciate your feedback to help us improve the app and identify other ways we could offer information over mobile technology. Feedback can be sent to iphoneapp@warwickshire.gov.uk.”
Cllr Heather Timms, the county council’s Portfolio Holder for Customer, Workforce and Partnerships, said: “We are always striving to provide information to people in a way that is quick and convenient to them.
“We will be building on the experience of developing the iPhone app to look at how customers’ needs could be met through bringing together information from different services and offering them in ways that are most accessible to customers.”
More information about the council’s other work looking at how new technologies can be used to deliver better services in future is available from the ICT Strategy blog (http://abigbang.wordpress.com/).