Using Smartphones to Complain to City Hall

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Report the same thing on a city street in Constant's district, and the report is routed to the city's Transportation Dept.

Channeling Complaints

Once a report is submitted, CitySourced also takes responsibility for making sure it gets to the proper person. Most cities already have their own systems for sending reports to different departments. Kiesel says CitySourced has developed software that formats the data properly to work with those systems. "We provide a system that works with what they already have and charge a subscription fee," he says.

Why pay a fee to an outside firm for a service a city might develop itself? Kiesel says cities that have built their own application have been known to spend as much as $80,000 doing it. "We can do it for less." Plus, there's a benefit that comes with having numerous cities share information on a large network. "We can detect trends that are affecting lots of cities. We get better with every city that gets added," he says.

The reports can also be a source of data used for other city services. A surge in graffiti in a neighborhood is often an early indicator of gang activity and can be used to alert police to bolster their patrols.

CitySourced is backed by a single angel investor, Dale Okuna, president and CEO of EZData, a software company based in Pasadena, Calif. He didn't disclose the size of his investment. He says he backed the company because it aims to help citizens understand and communicate more effectively with government. "It's a people-empowering social media technology," he says. Okuna originally backed FreedomSpeaks, a Web site from which CitySourced sprung. The social networking site is devoted to helping voters connect with their elected officials at the local, state, and county level. "The two go together," he says.

The buzz generated by Kiesel's appearance at the TechCrunch conference has brought numerous inquiries from cities around the world, and no small amount of interest from venture capitalists, who like the company for its combination of mobile technology, real-time data capability, and social features. But they also like the civic-engagement features. Says Kiesel: "Civic is the new green."

Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.

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