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City of Calgary Pets, the official mobile app of Animal & Bylaw Services, makes information regarding the programs and services provided by The City of Calgary Animal & Bylaw Services more accessible to Calgarians.

By downloading the free app, iPhone, BlackBerry and Android users will have a real time view of the photos and descriptive information regarding the impounded and adoptable cats and dogs sheltered at the Animal Services Centre at 2201 Portland Street S.E.  Knowing their pet is safe and waiting to be reunited with them at Animal Services provides peace of mind for pet owners who have lost their cat or dog. Timing is also important for Calgarians anxiously watching the status of cats or dogs and waiting for a specific pet to become available for adoption at the Animal Services Centre. City of Calgary Pets provides information on when and how to license a pet, the steps to follow if a pet is lost, and a list of the 60 participating I Heart My Pet vendors who offer the owners of licensed pets discounts on merchandise and services. Information needed when time is critical such as the contact numbers for Calgary's 24 Hour Emergency Vet Clinics or how to report an aggressive animal incident is also only a touch away using City of Calgary Pets.

City of Calgary Pets is a free app.  For more information on how to download City of Calgary Pets visit calgary.ca/mobileapps.

Thanks to the new CityApp, real-time construction information in Regina is only as far away as your iPhone or iPad.

The City of Regina introduced the tool to inform residents about road work as it recognized National Public Works Week on Wednesday with an open house at the public works yard. The event included the official kickoff for this year's construction season.

 

Read more: New app gives users real-time Regina construction information

Naheed Nenshi has been extolled as the "Obama of Canada" for his use of new media, social media and mobility as tools to become the mayor of Calgary.  The numbers themselves are very impressive.  By October 18th, the day of the election, he had over 11,000 Facebook "Likes".   His closest contender, Rick McIver had about 4300.   The election itself had a 53% voter turnout, demonstrating amazing public engagement in a city where the previous voter turnout (2007) was around 32%. 

Quickly, contrast this with Canadian Federal political numbers.  Right now Nenshi has almost 19K Facebook "Likes", only 21K Facebook behind Stephen Harper, 14K behind Michael Ignatieff and 12K behind Jack Layton. Not bad for a guy who's name isn't on the national news every night!

But lets go apples to apples for a second.  Ottawa, a similar sized city, ran what was for the most part a two horse race between Larry O'Brien and Jim Watson.  Both races employed a mix of new media, social media and mobile applications, however both combined Facebook fans fell 2x short of Rick McIver's 4500 Facebook fans.  Voter turnout was also low, about 44%, down from 54% in 2006.  Why was Ottawa such a different race on the social media scales? 

Better yet, what is it about this guy Nenshi?

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Some predicted this election would be the "Twitter campaign", yet political parties are slow to lean on web tools.

The Green Party has launched a very original political app, but many young voters feel there should be more technology.

Several YouTube videos show university students taking part in a ?Vote Mob.' One of them was shot at the University of Ottawa; the first one was in Guelph.

The web-organized events were done to show youth interest in campaign issues and their plan and desire to vote.

Read more: Election campaign slow to embrace mobile technology