Athenians get app for communication with their local authorities

Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis, presented an app on Wednesday that allows Athenians to communicate with municipal authorities via their smart phones and tablets.

Specially, the new app called Novoville, allows users to send municipal authorities requests and complaints or point to a specific problem.

Novoville which has been in pilot testing since October 2018, has so far received some 22,500 requests and returned 8,500 SMS messages and 2,500 push notifications to Athens residents.

At least 135 specially trained municipal personnel are on standby to handle anything citizens might report, i.e. problematic road lights, constructional defects on roads or pavements, abandoned cars, or more urgent incidents that require the immediate response of municipal authorities.

The app tracks the reported location and when a report has been processed or a problem has been resolved successfully, the person receives an update on his/her mobile phone or tablet.

Through this new app, municipal authorities can also inform residents and visitors about various events and activities, including extraordinary actions or important announcements, as well as receive people's thoughts on many issues and subjects by conducting opinion polls.

The Athens mayor pointed out that for the first time "we have data on the most important issues residents face in their daily life, but we also have data on their response to municipal services," while highlighting that the application "strengthens transparency in the operation of the city and gives citizens a platform of participation."

"It is only via inclusive and participatory principles that technology can be useful to us," concluded Kaminis.

Novoville is available on smartphones and tablets running Apple iOS and Google Android, completely free of charge.