Los Angeles uses cloud-based technologies to include mobility, mapping, tracking, and dashboarding capabilities—collectively called SANSTAR—to streamline service request processing and monitor field crews’ progress.

The past four systems in the old 311 service request systems were custom built and designed before APIs and system interoperability were required features, leading to completely independent systems that were unable to exchange information. As the city adapted to new technological trends — central call centers (311), mobile apps, and open data, the legacy systems’ antiquated architecture endured — becoming the primary obstruction to innovation.

Recognizing the essential role that the 311 service center plays in improving livability, Los Angeles modernized its 311 system, MyLA311, by consolidating four key service management systems into one integrated whole in 2014. For the first time, residents, civic hackers, and city departments can access all requests and status updates in one place. This is no small feat, as the process included an extensive overhaul that required cross-departmental cooperation and sophisticated engineering to complete.

The Los Angeles Mayor’s Office and the Information Technology Agency (ITA) led the centralization effort and convened a steering committee comprised of LA Sanitation, the Bureau of Street Services, the Bureau of Street Lighting, the Board of Public Works, the Chief Administrative Officer, and council representatives. The Mayor’s Office for Budget and Innovation led the effort with the goal of increasing efficiency by addressing the technical hurdles that slowed service delivery. The project centered on integrating the departments’ disparate systems into one central repository and simultaneously creating tools to increase accessibility for back-end users. The new system enables real-time field-level data management that allows tickets to be updated and closed in the field. This process is not only more efficient for the city, but it also opens up data that was previously locked up in legacy systems. Having a single repository of record for service requests facilitated the sharing of data with other systems such as the Open Data Portal.

The Mayor’s Data Team has developed a real-time dashboard within the Mayor’s Dashboard that is open to the public and city officials. The dashboards can quickly pull relevant metrics on wait times, bulky item pickups, and other service request data to make important decisions related to the city’s customer service delivery. All of these dashboards use open-source platforms tracking key metrics and outcomes from the City of Los Angeles.