Municipal m-Services using SMS     

Bremer, A. A. and López Prado, L.A. 

Regardless the several practices all around the globe and particularly the growth of cellular users in Mexico, the mobile technology have not been exploded for government services. The following case represents the first municipal model of m-Government services in Mexico, establishing a best practice and a solution model that involve new operational schemes with service providers (technological standards), as well as with the cellular carriers. The paper contains the description of the Solution Model developed by the IT Cooperation Center Mexico-Korea for the Miguel Hidalgo District, Mexico City Government denominated: “Municipal m-Services using SMS”. The objective was to take advantage of the development of cellular telephony, as well as its penetration, in order to establish an additional and personalized communication channel that improves the relationship between the District and the users of its services, as well as improving its internal processes. The project is based on best practices from Korea that use short messages as a key tool for e-Democracy and citizen participation, allowing the establishment of technological exchange between the two countries and originating an innovation strategy that allows the easy replication of the model in a short term.

Keywords: SMS, Mexico, mobile, internal efficiency, e-Democracy, transparency.