Published Paper Details:

CivicWatch is a mobile platform designed to empower citizens to report and track local infrastructure issues--such as potholes, broken streetlights, garbage dumps, waterlogging, and other public safety concerns. The core objective of the platform is to bridge the gap between the public and local governing bodies through a community-driven approach. Users can capture images of civic issues using their smartphone cameras. Each photo is automatically tagged with timestamp and GPS location metadata, ensuring authenticity and context. The issue is then uploaded to the app, where other users can view, upvote, verify, or report similar problems at the same location. Once an issue receives a threshold number of validations or upvotes (e.g., 10), it is escalated and forwarded to the relevant local authority through an integrated notification system. The platform features an issue status tracker (Reported -> Verified -> Notified -> Resolved) that allows users to monitor progress. To encourage participation, a gamification system is implemented, offering points, badges, and leaderboard rankings for active users. An admin dashboard enables governing bodies to view and prioritize reports based on severity, location density, and public votes. Security and privacy are prioritized by ensuring data is only collected with user consent and no continuous background tracking is performed.