Chennai, Feb 25 : In a major step towards tech-driven urban governance, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has approved a Rs 349-crore project to build an integrated 'Citizen 360' Digital Engagement Platform, aimed at fundamentally reshaping how residents interact with the civic body.

The decision was cleared at a recent council meeting, marking one of the cityâ??s most ambitious digital transformation initiatives.

The proposed platform will be developed by upgrading the existing Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) into a unified engagement and analytics hub.

Civic officials said the system will use artificial intelligence to create a consolidated profile of each citizenâ??s interactions with the Corporation - ranging from tax payments to grievance redressal - enabling faster, data-driven decision-making. At present, citizen services operate in departmental silos, meaning each complaint or request is handled independently. This fragmented structure makes it difficult for officials to identify recurring civic problems or patterns of complaints across neighbourhoods.

Under the new framework, all service requests, feedback, and grievances will be brought onto a single dashboard.

Officials said the AI-powered interface would securely store complaint data and generate analytics to detect persistent issues such as garbage accumulation, repeated road damage, drainage failures and flooding-prone stretches.

By analysing trends over time, administrators will be able to address root causes rather than merely resolving isolated complaints.

The Corporation has floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the design, development, integration and long-term maintenance of the platform.

The selected system integrator will manage the project end-to-end, including cloud hosting, cybersecurity, disaster recovery and high-availability architecture. The project will be executed in two phases. The first phase, scheduled for completion within eight weeks, includes deployment of 50 to 150 user licences, integration with ICCC and departmental systems, and rollout of an AI-driven chatbot powered by a large language model. The second phase will focus on operations and maintenance after go-live, including AI model refinement, uptime assurance and deployment of dedicated technical staff.

Importantly, the upgraded system will enable seamless communication across WhatsApp, email, web portals and mobile applications. Beyond integrating data from 22 GCC departments, the platform will also connect with agencies such as Metro Water, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), and the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation, creating a unified civic data ecosystem designed to enhance transparency and improve service delivery across the city.

/IANS