Ilsur Metshin calls for promotion of "Open Kazan" electronic system

(KZN.RU, January 16, by Renat Shirmanov). Housing authorities have succeeded in reducing the response period to residential requests 3.5 times thanks to the introduction of the "Open Kazan" electronic system. Over the two years, the server has processed over 539,000 requests. Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin, taking part in today's evaluation of the system, called for the move to the next stage of the project-- the formation of an electronic database for every building and the automation of Kazan housing management companies.

"Open Kazan " has been in operation since December 2011. The service gives residents a convenient way to request housing maintenance either via https://open.kzn.ru or a call-center telephone number. Each request is entered into an electronic database and tracked automatically. Thanks to the system, it has become significantly easier to track the work of housing authorities.

In addition to filing requests for services, “Open Kazan” users can transmit meter readings and make utilities payments via a personal account. Furthermore, the site offers ratings of housing management companies.

Given that the “Open Kazan" service has already covered over 80 % of city housing, its developers have begun an implementation of the next module that automates and facilitates the work of managing companies, thus increasing the level of service.

The module will allow managing companies to convert data for each residential building into an electronic format. As a result, it will be possible to implement a uniform transparent assessment of the city housing condition. Experts are developing a mechanism which will be used to determine the degree of building and internal network wear and tear. Also, the new module will help to calculate the costs required for major repairs and/or building maintenance. No other city in Russia uses a similar method.

Ilsur Metshin authorized the completion the second module introduction by the end of the year and the development of the third stage, which involves increasing the transparency of financial transactions in the housing utilities system.