In this video clip, BBC presenter Adam Shaw tests San Francisco's Open Data initiative to share government information with the city's residents. This has led to apps on which citizens can rate restaurants in line with the local government's health ratings and find a nearby parking space.
Self-study activity:
Watch this BBC segment from BBC Horizons, a programme which tries to cast a look at the future of global business and communication, and say whether the statements below are true or false.
The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.
1 You have to pay for the software.
2 The Thai Idea Vegetarian Restaurant is three miles away.
3 Adam is using the same application to find the restaurant and to find a free parking space.
4 The first parking space Adam finds is only available if you pay.
5 The same application allows you to report any problem to the council.
6 The apps can be improved technically, although they seem to be useful enough.
7 At the end, Adam tells us how long it took him to find the parking space.
To see if civic apps can make life in the city easier, I’m testing one which uses open data to help people find safe, healthy places to eat. I’m also going to be trying to overcome the age over an issue –finding somewhere to park.
So I’ve got my app. We are off to the Thai Idea Vegetarian. Very close, a third of a mile or so. So, let’s go. If only I could find an app that could drive! So I’ve used an app to find a vegetarian restaurant close by for which users have access to local government’s health ratings, and then combined it with their own ratings of the restaurant.
Ok, so [it] should be here. Before we actually go in, we have to find a place to park. So that’s what we’re going to use the next app for. It’s called SF Park. This is a very clever system, supposedly anyway. So parking space is still available according to the app. Not this right but the next right. Driver error, driver error has meant we have passed the parking space. I’ve never been so stressed. Look at the sweat on my head. It is now next on the left. Tension mounts. Right turn here, there’s a right turn here. There is a space. Curiously there is no meter. No, no, because this one says ‘permit parking only’.
Mission control. We’re going to go round the corner again to find the parking space. Ok, we are almost there. We are here. I’ve found a parking space. However, can Adam park a car? The answer is not this year.
So as I was driving along I saw and felt this rather large hole in the road. But there’s no problem. I can report it immediately to the local council using one of their SeeClickFix apps. So I want to make a report. Please select a location. Yes, it’s found my location.
Well, actually, I haven’t done too badly. The apps haven’t done too badly. A few teething problems I think, and it’s not city wide yet, but indeed it enabled me to find the parking space, a restaurant with a good rating from local people, report a problem in the street and doing fairly straight-forwardly.
While easier parking and better dining experiences might seem like a small beginning as the city releases more data and new developers find innovative of using it, the civic app could grow into something altogether bigger.
Key:
1F 2F 3F 4F 5F 6T 7F
