Digital financial report in full transparency

In 2004, Issy-les-Moulineaux stopped printing its annual financial report - a dry and costly document read only by local finance experts - to transform it into a more accessible document published on-line. With this on-line approach, Issy-les-Moulineaux plays the transparency card while demonstrating its capacity for innovation with an interactive and complete version of its financial report.

Public action is meaningful only if it is shared and understood by a maximum number of people. Thus, Issy's inhabitants have access to useful information related to the city's finances through 5 sections - Major budget lines, Revenue, Expenses, Debt and What about Tomorrow? - enhanced with diagrams, photos of the achievements and a glossary acting as a layman dictionary.

Furthermore, apart from a "citizen" entry, the report also includes a "would-be citizen" entry for the children from 9 to 14 years old. The city wishes to raise awareness among the youngsters to local financial issues through "Elsa's and Jules adventures", a fun short animation film, directed with a comic's approach. In the first episode "local taxes", two teenagers, Jules and Elsa discover the public finances jungle. The professor Civic is guiding them through different uses of the local taxes by the town. A dialogue is conducted between the professor Civic and the youngsters on the subject they call the "zimpolocos" ("los caltaxes"). Spurred by the Territoria Communication Award 2005, from the Public Innovation National Observatory, the city published several other episodes before presenting the serious game concept for the 2010 edition. ■

Elsa and Jules

In order to make the format even more interactive and playful,we created a mini game using flash,where the child impersonating Elsa or Jules is diving in an Issy-les-Moulineaux 3D set. Using the keyboard's arrows the child can roam the city where infrastructures like the City hall, the school or the games library are modelled in 3D. At the entrance of each building, a multiple choice question is asked. Immediately after answering the question the child will see the right answer appear, followed by an explanation and his/her score. By gathering points, the child has the opportunity to access the next level. ■