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Digital town hall apps: Citizens benefit from new services!
Moosach is introducing the “Heimat-Info” app to promote citizen participation and improve digital services.
Digital town hall apps: Citizens benefit from new services!
An exciting development is emerging in the communities around Munich: more and more municipalities are relying on digital solutions to improve contact between citizens and the administration. In Markt Schwaben, for example, over a third of the residents have already installed the “citizen app”. This innovative app not only makes it possible to book appointments, but also to easily report defects, as Merkur reports.
The district office also offers the “waste app”, which provides citizens with location-based collection calendars and collection points. This app even allows defects in recycling areas to be reported directly to the town halls. The digitalization of administration is a rapidly growing concern that is intended to improve the service for district citizens and further relieve the burden on municipalities.
Diversity of digital offerings
The “Together–For Each Other” app has been online in Kirchseeon for two years and over 1,500 citizens actively use it. The municipality of Moosach, on the other hand, launched “Heimat-Info” a month ago, which offers current community news and a digital event calendar. In Kirchseeon, around 50 groups organize themselves using the app mentioned. This impressively shows how diverse the digital offerings are in the region.
An example of the popularity of these applications is the “citizen app” in Markt Schwaben, which also enables applications for passports and business registrations. Mayor Valentina Dahms emphasizes the high level of acceptance of the app. The “defect detector” in Moosach is also very popular because it gives residents the opportunity to report damage simply by taking a photo.
Digital bridge to citizen participation
The involvement of citizens in administration has grown significantly in recent years through digital formats. Various citizen apps offer direct communication between the population and the authorities. They enable quick access to important information such as news, events and emergency warnings. These trends also confirm the findings of tgz.pm, which underline the advantage of increasing efficiency through digital inquiries.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, many municipalities have developed digital participation formats to counteract the interruption of traditional forms of contact. Initially these formats were little used, but as conditions changed they became more important. A report from the [Kommune Digital Forum](https://www.kommune-digital-forum.de/de/themen/general/der-wandel-der-digitalen-buerger participation) highlights that these digital offerings are now accepted in many municipalities, although technical barriers and data protection concerns continue to pose challenges.
Today's citizen apps are well on their way to becoming a permanent fixture in administration. The long-term integration of digital and analogue formats could further increase citizen participation in the future.