Problem:

The Mission Economic Development Corporation (EDC) lacked a digital platform that allowed Mission EDC and City of Mission leaders to communicate effectively with the 85,000 residents they serve and understand and address the community’s needs. Mission EDC was particularly interested in a solution focused on both city services and economic development.

Solution:

In 2018, Irys launched the Irys App (under the name Mission Connect) for iOS and Android devices. The Mission Connect app allows Mission residents to report non-emergency related issues like potholes, graffiti, stray animals, and more quickly and easily from their smartphones. Residents can also share job postings in the community and share their favorite places/points of interest in the City of Mission through the app.

The Irys Mobile App helps reduce inequality by ensuring that users of all social and economic backgrounds have access to a tool that allows them to voice their opinions and engage with City leaders and the community.

Irys also launched the Dashboard, a platform that allows government employees to manage service requests and user data from multiple channels, including the Irys mobile app, city department call centers, email, etc. All service requests submitted are organized and centralized in the Dashboard and channeled to the respective department work order management systems.

The Irys Dashboard provides the City of Mission with better planning and management capabilities by implementing improved data collection, communication, and work order management modules.

In addition to the Mobile App and Dashboard tools, Irys supported the City of Mission’s technology development, research and innovation initiatives by serving as Mission EDC’s expert-in-residence, sharing our expertise in social entrepreneurship, and conducting workshops on design thinking and leading change.

Results:

The Mission Connect Mobile App and Dashboard have increased civic participation and provided residents, City leaders, and administrators with an efficient communication channel. Furthermore, the implementation of the mobile app and Dashboard has helped modernize government processes. It has shown that innovative, smart city solutions can be implemented successfully in municipalities of all sizes – from small cities such as Mission, TX (pop. 85,000) to large cities such as San Antonio, TX (pop. 1.5 million).

In the City of Mission, we gained 4,000 users who reported 12,000 city requests. The requests ranged from pothole repairs, broken street lights to economic development activity such as job postings. The application has also migrated to an internal administrative tool to administer the public works process better.