Enhancing the government service experience through QR codes on mobile platforms

Digital government is universally gaining acceptance as the public becomes more technologically advanced. It is critical for the government to embrace new technology for minimizing costs and maximizing utility of services to the taxpayers. While administrative services have been easily ported to the digital world, there are still many important citizen-centric services that have not yet been effectively migrated. Quick Response codes (QR codes) provide a means to effectively distribute many different varieties of information to the public. We propose to integrate QR code systems and corresponding smartphone applications into existing government services with the goal of providing a new level of interactivity for the public. We illustrate this through two case studies, examining the National Park Services and the Mobile Environmental Information Services (MENVIS). The focus is on developing a QR code waypoint system for park navigation, as well as incentivizing park use through gamification of site attractions. The system provides increased safety for park goers, disseminates information more effectively and accurately, and improves feedback.