The iPad is making Life Easier for people in Public Housing

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C|Net.com: For millions around the world, public housing offers the promise of a much-needed roof overhead.

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But the reality of public housing can be grim, and problems that start small can often become bureaucratic nightmares.

That might be a case of waiting weeks to get a broken door fixed or having to file repeated complaints about rowdy neighbours. But issues can be left to fester if councils ignore public housing tenants. And in some cases, as the world saw with the massive fire at London’s Grenfell Tower housing complex in 2017, that can have tragic consequences.

While governments can be notoriously slow to adapt, one community housing provider is using tech to catch potential problems before they become big issues, making life easier for some of the most vulnerable people in society.

That solution is the Ivy app.

Created by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) in Australia, this iOS app was developed to cut out the endless paperwork case workers and community housing residents need to complete to get basic things done.

It lets case workers fill property condition reports and take photos directly on an iPad, while also accessing family records, past incidents or safety issues and recent rent and water bills. Residents can complete forms and make payments on the spot, without having to visit a FACS office or wait an age on the phone to get connected to a call centre.

And it’s all done through an iPad, which holds records of all the properties and families a case worker deals with, letting them map out appointments and access any information with a tap of the screen.

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