Sunday, November 2, 2014

My Role in Public Service/Urban Governance

How does your organization demonstrate public service and/or urban governance?

In my search for how to answer this question, I found this quote:

“The progress of a country depends in no small measure on the quality of its governance. While a democratic government may lay the foundation for good governance, a vigilant and active citizenry is essential to its sustenance. Nowhere is this need more evident that in the management of public sectors services for which citizens depend largely on their government. The quality of governance is enhanced when government as a whole and public agencies in particular become open to new ideas and responsive to citizens. Responsiveness in turn is improved when citizens are well informed and collectively seek better performance from these agencies.” ~ Policy Affairs Centre

I never thought of what we do at Shaw & Associates as helping with the governance but when thinking about it, we do have an influence on contributing to the public good.  We work with telecommunication companies to bring stronger cell coverage to the areas.  This need is driven by how many are using data and voice over the system, in a particular area.  One thing that is of utmost importance of the cell tower is the lack of landlines and the increase of cell phones being the only phone in a household.  Without cell towers, many people would not have the power to help in their hands, pockets and purses.

Another thing we are doing is working with local jurisdictions that have their emergency services using the cell towers for their own communications.  Many cities police and fire departments are using Verizon, Sprint and AT&T and are relying on the system to be fast and reliable.


I guess I always realized that cell towers are serving quite a purpose, I just didn’t think it was in such a large scale. 

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