New app for water, sewage service being tested in Kuujjuaq

Updated Sept. 17 at 10:25 a.m. ET

A new app designed to improve water and sewage services is currently under testing in Kuujjuaq.

The Kativik Regional Government’s public works department has partnered with Code for Canada, a national non-profit that uses technology to improve public services, to develop the tool.

The app, called Kiujik, has been in the works for more than three years, public works director Hossein Shafeghati told councillors during a meeting last Thursday.

Kuujjuaq residents were given access to the app through an online form and a phone number to request water deliveries and sewage collection during the test period. Then the app takes over, by dispatching those requests to available drivers.

The app also tracks when services are completed and provides real-time data for administrators to monitor services, said Uneeba Mubashsher, Code for Canada’s senior service designer.

Mubashsher said the app was developed to address three key challenges in northern communities: residents often don’t know whether services will arrive, as calls sometimes go unanswered; drivers manage heavy workloads; and leaders lack the data needed to improve service delivery.

“This isn’t just about technology,” she said.

“It’s understanding community realities and really building the solution to work with people who deliver and receive the service on a daily basis.”

The app, which is available in English, French and Inuktitut, is going through a testing phase in Kuujjuaq, Mubashsher said.

Shafeghati said the development team is working on offline functions, so users can still track and mark routes without an internet connection.

He said he hopes testing in Kuujjuaq will be finished by the end of the year and that at some point, the app can be expanded to other Nunavik communities.

Note: This article was updated to clarify plans to eventually make the app available in other Nunavik communities