Coimbatore: A monsoon shower at River Noyyal is good news. A naturalist at Noyyal records it in a photo essay. Another commuter documents bad roads at Sowripalayam… I get all this in the news section of the newly launched SimpliCity app.
“We crowd source news,” says D. Andrew Sam, its founder. I am at his plush black-and-white office in R.S. Puram where he tells me how the app works. “We first put in leg work to authenticate any news that comes to us. We cross-check with the source and upload the story and give them credit.”
The simplicity app is an urban intelligence platform that connects people in the city with real-time information on news, events, sports, jobs and more. It also has a social network, exclusively for people in the city. The recent Chennai floods tragedy kicked off the idea, says Sam. “People in the same city didn’t know what was happening in the neighbouring street. If you have over 300 friends on Facebook, more than half are from the same city where you live. We have built a social media called City Centre that works within the geographical space of the city. You can share your thoughts, upload photos and be the first to report any development in town,” explains Sam.
While every section is curated, the city centre is one place where anyone is free to upload content. “Recently, I got a WhatsApp alert with a request for a rare blood group. When I contacted the number, I learnt that it was posted two years ago! Be it job listings or requests for blood, there is a lot of stale unverified information that is circulating on the social media. With the app, I wanted to ensure that we only post information that is up-to-date and authenticated.”
At the event-listing section anyone can add details, but the team reviews it before posting. “The jobs section is end-to-end free for the employer and job searcher. But every single entry is checked and verified. When we give health tips, it comes from a professional and not taken off the Internet. Our food and cooking section has over 1000 recipes. Though we aggregated the info, we authorised it from chefs here. We also focus on city specials — for instance Annapoorna coffee. Recently, we uploaded a nostalgic piece on the coffee, which has a cult following among the morning walkers,” he says.
The news section is primarily citizen journalism that captures feel good stories and also the not-so-good besides happenings in the Collectorate and the Corporation. The sports section spotlights local talent to help them connect with sponsors from the city. The music and movies section promotes independent movie-makers and musicians. “We have listed 60 films and 60 songs, all made by artists here. We want to approach visual communication students and help them explore the platform to promote their work,” he explains.
There is a city directory with over 14,000 entries. “Recently, we uploaded an article written by members of Coimbatore Nature Society about a birding trip. It is for those who want to go on a similar trip,” says Sam.
There is also a radio section. It opens up a list of information on science and other interesting trivia.
I hear RJ Raja’s voice telling me about the poisonous fugu fish of Japan. “Our idea is to engage users with information that impacts them. When there is a power cut you want to know about it in advance. That is what our government notification section does. It gives you traffic updates and alerts you on events like anti-polio drives for children, issuing of Aadhar card, voter ID, passport…”
Sam says he is happy that his app is one that people can rely on. “We started work on the project last year. We slowly built the contacts, especially at various government departments, and piloted the project during the election time. We have 10,600 active users on the app. The city centre alone has over 3000 members sharing news and happenings.” Sam reiterates, “SimpliCity’s USP is accuracy and dependability.”
Know more
The app is a free download on iOS, Android and Windows. You can visit www.urbanintelligence.in and download the app
The founder plans to launch a similar app in Chennai, Madurai, and Tiruchi
Call: 0422-4355527
