Public services and charities are struggling with budget cuts or freezes across all sectors, making it harder for them to meet people's needs. At the same time, technology is making it easier for people to access information, data, and services through mobile devices, wherever and whenever they need it. This topic will focus on the creation of a mobile device app for some aspect of the public or charity services. The choice of platform is open (for example, iPhone, Android, or cross-platform HTML5 Web app). The choice of service is also open, but examples would be the following:

(1) For the police or community organisations, an app that improves community engagement for reporting and managing "nuisance crime" such as vandalism, anti-social behaviour, or dumping.

(2) For the health services and charites, an app that allows a user to explore healthy choices, avoid risky behaviours, or stay in closer contact with their care providers (doctor, physiotherapist, social worker).

(3) For an environmental or conservation service or charity, an app that allows a user to record observations about the natural world (for example, animals or plants) and threats to it (for example, pollution or endangered species).

This project is suitable for CS and IS students, but the latter will need to be willing to develop at least HTML5 and JavaScript prototypes of an app.