UpCode teams with City of Riverside to bring mobile barcodes to residents
The City of Riverside, California, announced today that they have partnered to bring Riverside residents the UpCode platform to access city services on their mobile phone.
This will be the first city in the United States to offer UpCode Solutions for city services.
What services?
1) pay parking and traffic tickets
2) donate money to Smart Riverside community program
3) receive notifications and advice for emergencies / disasters
4) connect to community blogs, etc.
From the release:
“UpCode will be Riverside’s entry into using mobile devices for access to city services” said Steve Reneker, the city’s chief information officer. “With citywide free wireless, many mobile phones will be able to connect to the Internet at no cost and take advantage of this program.”
Jerald Cavitt, CEO of UpCode Solutions USA , stated: “This is a big day for the UpCode Solutions Mobile Access and Interaction world. Today we show that there is a big calling for real-life application and solutions in the mobile world. Upcode Solutions USA is focusing on a multitude of solutions to fit every vertical market wants and needs, this is just the tipping point”
What we think?
An entire city taking up mobile barcodes with UpCode? My first reaction was that this is an amazing idea. I thought that Riverside could be a testing bed for a potential roll-out of this technology. Imagine different city and government services synced with mobiles and barcoding! But then I had a look at Riverside, and I thought again.
Riverside is one of the fastest growing cities in the USA. There’s a vast amount of money and infrastructure going into it. It’s one of the best places in America to live, according to Money Magazine. It has some of the widest sprawl, highest pollution and worst traffic in the country. Importantly, it’s also the fifth most digitally connected city in the States. It’s hardly surprising that UpCode chose Riverside to try this out.
But would it work anywhere else? The functions of the service seem quite limited so far. UpCode has talked about how people can pay their parking and traffic fines via mobile barcode. They can donate money to Smart Riverside, a program promoting new technology. A major function of the service is “reverse 911″, where residents can register their phones to receive warnings and advice during emergencies and disasters. I’m sure that will be a hugely popular service in earth-quake prone Southern California, but not so much elsewhere.
So yes, this does look like a good service, but it takes a city like Riverside to make it tick. It has high-end residents who can afford the high-end devices you need to take advantage of this service. But cities like that are few and far between.
Related News:
Leave a Reply