Brits Briskly Developing Mobile Apps

The federal government on the Yankee side of the pond isn’t the only government obsessed — albeit with caution — with the cloud.

The U.K. government, for instance, has spent tens of thousands of pounds developing iPhone applications, according to a recent news article. Specifically, the  Brits are spending between 10,000 and 40,000 pounds per application, and they’re aimed at citizens and should improve the way they get information from the government. For example, the U.K. government, otherwise known as Whitehall, is creating such projects as a travel advice application and a jobseekers’ app for the Foreign Office.  Also, there’s one called a “Quit Smoking” app and a “Drink Tracking” app — both costing around 10,000 pounds each.

A Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) “Motoring Masterclass” app that would cost tax payers around £40,000 is also in development. Benefits? The DVLA Motoring Masterclass app could help motorists to renew their car tax, update their personal information and reduce work for DVLA employees.

Yanks no Slouches, Either

The hard development work in Britain is taking place in America, too.  On July 2nd,  the USA.gov website launched a re-design and a brand new application store featuring about 20 or so mobile applications — with some needing to be downloaded and others directly accessible via a browser. Among apps (some come with a price tag), there are a series of free health-related apps, too, for example, something called “UV Index by the EPA,” which you can use to check the UV Index and air quality ratings wherever you are.  Useful for the summertime!

Glad to see both governments doing their part to bring savings and efficiencies to U.S. taxpayers by increased use of the cloud.  Who would have thought that governments could be so farsighted as to see the savings in this important technology, especially now a days in these budget-crunching times?

For companies that depend on apps, including mobile ones, to keep their employees informed and productive on the road, it’s good to know that world-class monitoring services like Monitis exist to help ensure those apps are up and running — and if they’re not — that companies can be warned in time to get access again.