Philadelphia’s Managing Director’s Office and PublicStuff have collaborated to create the Philly311 mobile app available in 16 languages.
The move allows the non-English speaking residents, which account for nearly 21 percent of the city, to communicate with city staff in real-time.
The app is currently the only one available on the market that allows community members with different languages communicate through the continuous translation.
For example, a community member can cite an issue in Spanish, and another member can comment on the issue in a different language, while the city staff will receive them in English, and their response will automatically be sent back as the original languages.
“My administration is committed to providing an open government for all citizens,” said Mayor Michael Nutter.
Since its September 2012 launch, more than 7,000 residents have created a Philly311 account, in addition to 7,200 requests made via smartphone and the web.
Philly311 Director Rosetta Carrington Lue added, “Every language deserves great customer service. The app’s multilingual functionality is invaluable because it empowers Philadelphia’s diverse community.”
Click here to download the app.
Here are the sixteen languages available: Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Russian, Cambodian (Khmer), Italian, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, German, Greek, Turkish, Serbian, Polish and French.
