3. Introduction
The term “smart apps” refers to software applications
that run on smart phones. The basic purpose of these
applications is to enable users to make use of digital
services without having to access an internet browser.
They also enable people to use services in ways that
aren’t as possible on other channels, that:
o Locate where you are and personalise the
service around that.
o Barcode transactional information to make
payments or access services.
o Overlay digital information relevant to where you
are.1
With councils looking to promote and share information
about their services in a way that is quick and easily
accessible to the general public and looking at ways
that their customers can communicate with them as
well, smart apps appear to offer a potential solution.
This is especially the case due to the increase in use of
this technology and its ability to enable people to easily
exchange information and make transactions. This has
led us to research the long term applicability of this
technology as well as looking at the opportunities to
develop KCC Apps.
This guide should help to you understand the
background to smart apps and go through the steps
of developing approaches to build new apps which
can provide council services to the public.
1
Otherwise known as augmented reality
3
4. 1. Background
Smart applications are being used more and more
across the country. Indeed, over the past four years,
sales of smartphones in the UK have risen almost
tenfold2 with 15% of mobile phone users owning a
smartphone. They are predicted to continue growing
year on year by over 35%3.
Furthermore, these applications are not only limited to
mobile phone users, as apps can also be accessed
through other type of mobile applications, such as the
iPod Touch or the iPad and so potentially offer an even
wider customer base.
There is limited evidence on statistics for take up of
public services apps as they are so new, but for
example Warwickshire Council have seen a fifteen fold
increase of smart phone users to its website from
1000-15,000 hits since it developed its own general
purpose smart app. As mentioned above, this is in line
with the increase in smart phone usage across the UK.
For specific uses from a clientele that is less likely to
use smart phones, i.e. those out of work, about 6% of
Jobcentre Plus customers use its app with over 60,000
downloads.
Alongside the rapid growth of smartphone sales, there
seems strong rationale for further exploring the use of
smart phone applications which could provide
innovative and cost effective services for people in
Kent.
By changing the way people approach using their
mobiles and accessing online public services, these
apps, designed to serve people on the move and
developed to provide multiple services, should help
deliver benefits for both KCC and the people of Kent.
2
OFCOM Technology Tracker
3
Inform Telecoms and Media
4
5. Developing Smart Phone Apps
Having read the background to why smart apps could
benefit councils you may wish to develop your own
smart app. To do this you will need to:
1. Develop the approach
2. Engage people in your project
5
6. 1. Develop the approach
For the smart apps to become a useful tool for your
residents and your council, develop an approach that
focuses on different strands which all complement
each other.
o Develop a cost benefit analysis of the
effectiveness of smart apps in order to see
whether the benefits outweigh the costs. For this
you should calculate the proportion of service
users who have downloaded the app versus the
proportion of users who use online/phone/face
to face access. You should also calculate the
costs to develop and administrate apps versus
the cost of the overall process of developing and
managing the service.
Given the cost of development ranges from £0-
£12000 depending on which smartphone you
want to develop an app for and whether or not
you have the skills available to program the
language the required, it is recommended to
conduct a thorough market analysis.
o Develop a market analysis which analyses the
app economy in Kent to identify local developers
that we could work with to develop your apps.
Further, you should learn what types of
smartphones are available, which are most
widely used and review the different platforms4.
o Develop a customer analysis which allows
you to review the different demographic
groupings against smart phone users. This can
be achieved using the Mosaic database.
This should include:
o Age
o Gender
o Location
o If they have a high demand on public
services
Optionally, you could assess the behaviour of the
customers of your service in use of smart phone apps
to access local services in Kent.
4
Including Nokia Symbian (38.8%), RIM Blackberry OS (19.2%), Apple iOS
(15.9%) Google Android (9.8%).
6
7. o Develop a resource analysis which evaluates
the cost, skills and technology needed to
develop apps to each of the different types of
smart phones. This should include the:
o Different types of smartphone apps
available
o Data traffic by platform
o Costs of developing apps for different
platforms
o Skills needed to develop apps
o Technology needed to develop apps
o Review of existing online services for
apps5
Resources Types
Needed of
Smart
Phone
To develop Time Technology Research Funding Training
or test out
these tools,
we need not
a lot (1),
some (2) or a
lot of (3)
iPhone 2 3 2 2 3
OS
Blackber
1 1 2 1 2
ry OS
Android
1 1 2 1 2
Symbian
1 1 2 2 1
OS
Window
s Mobile 1 2 2 1 2
5
For example “Apply for it” apps, “Ask for it” apps, “Find it” apps, “Pay for it” apps,
“Report it” apps.
7
8. 2. Engage people in your project
o Encourage app developers to explore how you
could test or pilot these tools out, especially
those groups helping prototype apps to improve
public services6.
o Raise awareness across your local area,
sector7, national media8 and other related work
streams in your council. This could be achieved
by posting videos on the KCC Website would
allow you to explain your ideas to the public.
You could also feature a vox pop or forum there
to get quick feedback and discover new ideas.
o Involve business units responsible to identify
what research you could capture together of the
impact of apps on improving services.
Representatives of your communications,
technology, engagement and information
services are critical.
o Engage companies enabling users to develop
apps for them to see if there any opportunities
for collaboration9 and understanding lessons
they have learnt.
o Sound out people who are already
working on smart apps. This will give you a
better understanding on how to engage the
community of developers in this field.
o Get people to help each other.
Encourage volunteers to get together and
complete tasks while they’re out and about. Get
young people excited about positive activities
and connect with each other.
6
http://appsforgood.org/
7
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=9274627
8
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/30/politics-web2
9
Such as O2 Litmus
8
