The creators of SeeClickFix reached a milestone this week, and launched a new tool for governments to track how they respond to citizens
The company, founded in New Haven in 2009, has spread to cities worldwide. It offers a platform for citizens to report complaints, other citizens to weigh in, officials to respond, and everyone to track the results. Over a million people use it. So do nearly 300 governments.
This week the company reported that its users have reported over three million issues — and almost 90 percent have been fixed.
It also launched a new service called SeeClickFix Work, which is aimed at helping governments to monitor more closely how work is assigned to different department and outside contractors, and to give certain problems priority to fix.
Finishing a job takes more than “acknowledging” the issue and then “closing” it after it’s been fixed, which is the way city officials most often report to citizens about complaints on the platform. SeeClickFix Work now accounts for the various steps in between — like “In Progress” and “Needs Review” — allowing governments to stay more vigilant and efficient internally. With “escalation notifications,” officials can send daily email updates on overdue assignments to the right people.
“We’re excited about a lot of things about SeeClickFix Work,” Ben Berkowitz, CEO and co-founder of SeeClickFix Inc., said in a press release. “But what excites us the most is building a tool designed by neighbors and governments — together.”