You're reading: Online map keeps track of Kyiv’s utility problems

Kyiv City Hall, which is constantly criticized for paying more attention to distributing expensive land to insiders than serving residents' needs, launched an online map that reflects the breakdowns in the city's utility system on Nov. 19.

KitSoft,
a local website developer, made an interactive map that shows the exact addresses of the
buildings experiencing any utility problems, whether this is water or power
supply.

It
also shows the date, when the problem was reported and the approximate date
when it is expected to be fixed, the status of the breakdown and the utility
service provider responsible for fixing it. Road works, elevator and gas supply
breakdowns will be also reflected on the map in a couple of months.

According
to Oleksandr Yefremov, the KitSoft chief technology officer, the map is being
updated daily by the duty operators of the utility service providers. However,
hourly updates are still a challenge since the operators may be overloaded with
other work.

The
map is a part of Kyiv City Hall’s three-bloc communication platform, which also
includes the Kyiv contact center for those
willing to report any problems with the services the city provides, and the
1551 app, a duplicate of this portal that works with the iOS, Android and
Windows Phone operating systems.

The
app is available for free download on App Store and Google Play. It is more
popular on Android and was downloaded more than 10,700 times in all three
versions of the operating system.

It
took around three months to develop the web-portal and the app. They have been
launched simultaneously in 2013, having collected more than 82,000 requests
from 43,000 registered users up till now.

If
city residents have a problem in their building, but can’t find it on the map, they
can report it through the 1551 app or the web-portal. However, the waiting time
prior to connection with the call center operator might take up to 15 minutes,
which is rather inconvenient. To upload the information on the web-portal, one needs
to register with an e-mail and password, then fill in the text of the complaint
about the breakdown and submit it.

It is
also possible to add the picture of the location of the breakdown. When the
request is addressed, one gets a notification on the phone and an e-mail,
notifying that the reply to the request can be accessed on the web-portal.

KitSoft,
a developer of the official websites of Kyiv
City Council
and Ukraine’s
President
, plans to expand. “Now we are developing the same maps for
Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv due to their interest in the convenience and loyalty
it builds between the townsfolk and the city councils,” Yefremov says. “The
service is also a useful tool for the real estate agents, who want to know
about the safest districts in town, tenants and anyone else interested in the
city breakdown rate.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Bozhena Sheremeta can be
reached at [email protected].
The Kyiv Post’s IT
coverage is sponsored by 
AVenturesCapitalCiklumFISON and SoftServe.