Merging into the Mobile Fast Lane By James Kunke, CPC Community Relations Director, City of Lewisville, Past President, Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers Smartphones and tablets have brought change to our world, and it goes far beyond the discovery of Angry Birds and Candy Crush. City governments are entering the world of mobile applications at a rapid pace, and our residents and visitors are taking notice. Just as municipal websites started slowly in the 1990s but soon became commonplace, mobile applications for cities are the new frontier for two-way communication with residents and visitors. Whether your city already has a mobile application, or is just now thinking about one, chances are that your residents are looking for you through their mobile devices – and doing so far more often than you might think. Making the Case for Mobile Digital communication experts have pointed to 2014 as the year mobile users surpassed traditional users on the
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Internet. Current data shows more people own smart phones than own desktop or laptop computers, and Internet traffic in many sectors documents that mobile is now the preferred means for going online. Lewisville’s own website traffic shows 60 percent of visitors are using mobile platforms. Survey results released in April 2015 by Pew Research Center demonstrated that a majority of smartphone owners use their devices to follow breaking news (68 percent, 33 percent doing so frequently) and to find and share information about their local community (56 percent, 18 percent frequently). Users are particularly fond of sharing photos, videos, and comments about their community (67 percent, 35 percent frequently). Among smartphone owners specifically, Pew Research Center found that 89 percent use their devices to access the Internet (trailing only text and phone calls in frequency of use). That includes an impressive, and perhaps surprising, 40 percent who said they had used their smartphone within the past year to look up government services or information.
SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
