Suzhou Industrial Park Mobile Rolls Out Global Version of its Mobile App

SUZHOU, China, Oct. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- "The Marvelous City of SIP," the official downloadable mobile app of Suzhou Industrial Park, went online worldwide over the last few months. The new version is an upgrade with a new level of integration since the park took the lead by launching its first official mobile app domestically in 2012.

As the official "mobile portal" of the park, the brand-new "The Marvelous City of SIP" app is the first stop for anyone who would like to learn more about this extraordinary city and industrial park.

Users anywhere around the world can download the app onto their phone, iPad or mobile device from the iTunes Store or Android Market by searching for "Suzhou Industrial Park" or use their mobile device to directly scan the two-dimensional code and download the application for free. These simple steps bring the user, no matter where he is she is located across the globe, into close contact with the park. The new version of "The Marvelous City of SIP," now available in both English and Chinese, has been redesigned to be substantially more user-friendly and is available in all of the commonly used mobile operating systems.

Enjoy your extraordinary "mobile" trip right here

Li Yi, originally from the Suzhou area, spent several years in Singapore, before deciding to return to his hometown. A few years ago he set up his own company in the park. "When I came here, I found the industrial park to be completely different from what I had imagined it to be," the normally soft-spoken Li Yi said enthusiastically, when he expressed his feelings about the park. What now surprises him even more is the latest release of the "The Marvelous City of SIP" app. Through this application, he can keep up with the changes in the park even while on one of his frequent business trips. "It's like watching both the development of my company and of the park, as both go hand in hand," as he put it.

Activate "The Marvelous City of SIP" app and you will be able to browse through the app's many sections including "Marvelous Courier," "Vision Park" and "Marvelous City News," each clearly delineated by a distinctive color. Then gently swipe to access any of the corresponding sub-sections or click the arrow to go back. The "Marvelous City" and "Vision Park" sections provide panoramas of the park, in which viewers can have a look at and understand the appeal of the park by browsing pictures and watching videos. The "Marvelous Courier" and "Marvelous City News" sections keep users up to date on the latest goings-on and events in the park with a feed of news releases issued in real time - as soon as the news rolls off the press. The share functions across all the app's sections make it possible for users to know what is going on anywhere in the park, no matter how far away from the park the user might physically be.

Over the past year, "The Marvelous City of SIP" app has come to be known and recognized as the official mobile portal of the park. The new version, a significant upgrade over the original version, not only retains many features of the original including the multimedia that allowed users to get a close view of the park, but also integrated many functions to vastly increase the app's practical role.

From "viewing" to "using" - transforming the app into a true living service utility

Xiao Zhang, a white-collar worker who has been employed for five years in the HR department of one of the companies in the park often takes care of her many chores at the park's one-stop service center. Recently, she has made a "new friend" - "The Marvelous City of SIP," which enables her to track the progress of any order she has placed at the service center, get the latest notices issued by the park and to make reservations in advance with her mobile phone. She no longer has to make a wasted trip to the service center to check on an order that may not be completed yet. Whenever she goes out, she can first check which bus to take on the phone. If one of her friends wants to visit nearby Jinji Lake, Xiao Zhang will recommend downloading "Marvelous City" so the friend can get a full preview of what to expect and suggestions on what to see when he or she goes there.

Call a taxi with a single button, check the price of the neighborhood's fresh vegetables, click to buy movie tickets...the new "The Marvelous City of SIP" app is not only highly appealing in appearance but also easy to use. Users can get access to practical information about the local banks, ATMs, 24-hour convenience stores, farms, public toilets, hospitals, clinics, designated pharmacies that take health insurance and available parking spaces via the hotspot query. Additionally, the app can take on the role of a convenience "supermarket." At present, "SIP provident fund," "one-stop service center," "smart travel" and many other functional applications within the app have been successfully launched.

Launch the "SIP provident fund" section to access and query one's personal provident fund account including getting an update on one's current balance in the fund; enter the "one-stop service center" to track the status of any order or transaction in progress; click "smart travel" to find the latest bus schedules; "youth activities center" to complete an online registration form within minutes; open "cultural arts center" to look up movie times and book tickets with a single button. With respect to user experience, within one year, "The Marvelous City of SIP" app made the huge leap from an application basically just for viewing to one which allows local users to take care of many of their daily chores - a real upgrade from simply "viewing" to something that a local resident can really use and find useful. It is now not only an authoritative information release platform and a long-distance multimedia "window" of the park, but also an information vehicle serving the public and companies as well as acting as the daily life services "partner" for people who live and/or work in or near the park.

Open and inclusive - A panoramic window on the city with a swipe of your finger

With the growing popularity of 3G networks and smartphones, the Internet, mobile phones and other new media have become an important communication channel for government agencies. These new media can not only increase the number of official information dissemination channels, but also provide a more effective communication and interaction platform for the government to communicate with the public. "The Marvelous City of SIP" app fits perfectly into this context. The app leverages the interactive functionality with other mobile communication tools. Users can get an immediate snapshot of public perceptions via the microblogging circle, while also sharing their unique experience with "The Marvelous City of SIP" app on microblogs and WeChat via the sharing function. The app allows for the inclusion of third party applications as a result of the philosophy of "inclusiveness" on which the app was designed. Going forward, applications developed by companies located in the park will find a home within "The Marvelous City of SIP."

The park first created "The Marvelous City of SIP" city brand in the national development zone, made official a microblog for the city's twelve counties, and then introduced the official "mobile portal." The park is home to many innovative entrepreneurs and forward-looking companies. In recent years, based on the development trends of the mobile Internet, information push and other new media technologies, the park has established a "comprehensive new media communication system" with the web portal as the base, mobile terminal push as the mid-level and microblogging and WeChat as the upper level. In this system, the basic level - the park's government website - has been increasingly perfected with the number of visitors to the site well ahead of the number of visitors to the websites of all other national development zones. The upper level serves as an outlet for the release of the latest regional information where a microblogging client actively interacts with the local population and has accumulated many loyal fans. The backbone is the mobile application that has gone through innovative upgrades. All of these applications have come together to form the information "pyramid" of the park, leveraging innovation and traditional media as well as the increasing interactivity between online and offline media. The end result is a window on the marvelous city that can be enjoyed by users anywhere and everywhere around the globe.

SOURCE Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee