End of Commitment Report – Open City platform: Notification of utility problems in the city in one click

Name of Evaluator

Mariana Zvarych

Email

[email protected]

Member Name

Ternopil, Ukraine

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Ternopil, Ukraine, 2021 – 2023

Title

“Open City” platform. Notification of utility problems in the city in one click.

Action

The general goal is to create a convenient service for reporting and solving utility problems. The service will be integrated into a mobile application, where residents will be able to easily attach a photo with a description of the problem, and geolocation, and quickly receive answers.

Problem

“Open City” is an electronic system that allows residents of the community to report problems in the city to local authorities using the latest means of communication and receive feedback. This will help to solve the problem of communication between the city authorities and residents, and speed up the solution of communal problems.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... implementation at the time of this assessment?

limited

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

At the time of this assessment, the overall progress of the “Open City” commitment is rated as limited. Progress was achieved through the implementation of one of the key modules: «Feedback and Ratings for Public Transport». This part of the project is already operational, allowing residents to provide feedback and rate the quality of services. At the time of this report, 3,000 ratings had been submitted. Meanwhile, the main module related to utility issues is still under development. Its full integration and launch are the next steps toward achieving the complete fulfillment of the commitment. Work on this module is ongoing.

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

Key Factors:

• Technical Complexity of Integration: The module for utility issues proved to be more technically complex due to the need for integration with existing utility service systems and the development of a sophisticated request-routing system. This required additional time for development and testing.
• Mitigation: This factor was not fully eliminated, as work is still in progress, but a detailed integration plan was developed, and a separate team was assigned to work on this specific module.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

few of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

No, the commitment was not fulfilled completely as initially planned.
According to the original plan, the “Open City” platform was supposed to be a single system covering two key areas simultaneously:

• A module for utility issues.
• A module for public transport feedback.

Currently, only one of the planned items—the module for “Feedback and Ratings for Public Transport”—has been implemented. The main module concerning utility issues is still in development. Therefore, the commitment has been partially fulfilled, and its final completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More is ongoing.

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

No

Degree of result:

Did not change

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Today, thanks to the implementation of the «Feedback and Ratings for Public Transport» module, the situation has changed. Any resident can now use the mobile app to quickly leave feedback or rate the condition of a bus. This has not only simplified the process but also made it visible. People now feel that their voice matters. They can see their feedback being collected in a single system, allowing the local government to respond promptly. This not only helps improve the quality of services but also restores trust between citizens and the municipality. Although the utility issues module has not yet been launched, the experience with the public transport module has already shown that the municipality is ready for open dialogue and that digital tools can effectively engage citizens in city governance.

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Not Applicable

Degree of result:

Did not change

2.1.4 Other Results

Not Applicable

Degree of result:

Did not change

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The commitment has partially addressed the public policy problem. While the utility issues module is still in development, the implemented public transport feedback module has improved communication between residents and city authorities, allowing citizens to provide input, receive responses, and engage more effectively in city governance.

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

Initially, we set an ambitious goal: to launch a comprehensive platform that would cover all utility issues and public transport at once. However, external factors (the war) and internal ones (integration complexity, limited resources) forced us to adjust. Instead of halting the project or waiting for all modules to be ready, we decided to focus on a single, less complex, but highly in-demand module – the «public transport feedback» module.
This decision allowed us to:

• Achieve visible progress: We not only demonstrated that the project was moving forward but also provided citizens with a real tool they could use immediately. This helped rebuild trust and encourage public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio....
• Test the system: Launching one module allowed us to identify technical issues in a low-risk environment, gather user feedback, and refine communication processes with utility services.
• Maintain team motivation: The team saw tangible results from their work, which helped maintain morale despite the challenges.

This experience showed us that breaking large initiatives into smaller, manageable parts that deliver value at each stage is a more effective strategy, especially in a dynamic environment. While we continue to work on the more complex utility issues module, the first module is already serving people, and that is our main victory.