PROGRESS.— A few weeks ago, the Buenos Aires City Council launched Muni, a new one digital platform designed so that progressive citizens are in direct contact with the Commune and can make reports on different topics.
This program was created so that Buenos Aires residents receive more efficient and faster attention, and all from their cell phones through WhatsApp.
Regarding this tool, the Mayor Erik Rihani González He discussed the details of his operation in an interview with the Diaryin which he encouraged citizens to use it with confidence.
How did the idea for Muni come about?
It arose walking through the streets and listening to people, realizing that there are many needs and one of the main ones is knowing who to turn to, being sure of who we can approach to request basic care or serviceas can be a lighting or a water service, and see that these requests have a response and follow-up, the mayor responded.
It arises from seeing how they solve this type of problem in the country, from seeing how in the main cities of our country they have used similar versions of this adaptation of technology to provide effective attention to our citizens, cities that are success stories that have changed the lives of entire municipalities and we hope that is the case with Muni.
How long has it been planned?
Muni It has been in development for about eight months, which includes the first ideas we had about how to provide care. There is a whole internal structure that not only records the requests, but also tracks them and will even audit success resultsThis will allow us to have strategies and public policies that are more effective in meeting the needs of our society, he explained.
What was the public service route like before Muni?
Before the creation of Muni, Citizens went directly to the municipal offices to make their reports in person, or they also did so by telephone or WhatsApp.
Once the report was received, it was channeled to the corresponding departments through an official letter. To find out the status of the request, citizens had to communicate again through the same means.
Will they continue to operate on par with Muni?
Yes. Strategies are being implemented so that citizens feel heard and their requests are attended to as soon as possible, using both Muni and traditional channels, he indicated.
In the time it has been active, has there been a response from people? Are they using it?
Yes, people are using Muni as a practical and faster way to make reports about your colony and even those that you detect on your way.
What have been the most requested services?
First, public lighting; second, desilting of wells, and third, patching.
There was also talk about the possible risk that the service could become saturated. Is there such a risk?
To date, Muni has demonstrated stable and efficient performance. Thanks to its automated design, you can manage multiple conversations at the same time. Even so, the administration maintains constant surveillance of message traffic to ensure the quality of the service and prevent any eventual saturation.
How to use it? Is it an AI?
The user must add the corresponding telephone number 99-91-99-90-61 as contact in the app WhatsApp. You can start a conversation with the system, which guides you step by step in the registration process and in the generation of reports, guaranteeing the correct capture and channeling of the information to the competent area.
Yeah, Muni uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to understand the requests, offer coherent responses and direct the citizen to the corresponding option or area, he noted.
What makes it different from a call to the dependency from which a service is required?
The main difference is that Muni is always availableSince it is an application, it does not sleep without any health implications and by not doing so, it can serve you without waiting. You don’t need to make a phone call or depend on office hours. In addition, your reports are saved in the system and are channeled directly to the area in charge of resolving them.
What would be the advantages of using it?
The main advantages of Muni are its speed, 24-hour availability, ease of use and the possibility of following up on reports. In addition, it allows citizen attention to be closer, organized, efficient and transparent.
Finally, the mayor invited citizens to use the service and see for themselves how easy it is to make reports and requests through Muni, the new way to make requests to the Progreso City Council.