Virginia Grown Mobile
Business Case
Agriculture is Virginia's number one industry with an economic impact of $55 billion annually and provides nearly 360,000 jobs in the Commonwealth.Solution
In response to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s “Choose the Commonwealth” initiative, which urges Virginians to purchase local food and beverages, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) launched the Virginia Grown mobile application for Windows Phone 7 in February 2011. The application complements and extends the efforts of the Virginia Grown website to promote fresh Virginia agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, peanuts, meats, cheeses, seafood, herbs, organic items, homemade preserves, nursery items, Christmas trees and more.
Key features of the mobile app include:
- Uses geo-location to display a variety of point-of interest to users on an interactive map within a 15 mile radius of the user’s current location.
- Allows users to instantaneously obtain driving directions.
- Allows for flexible search by keyword, market type and location.
The app was also recognized by Microsoft as a “Public Sector Application of the Week” and was featured in the Washington Business Journal, March 7, 2011.
Tools
- XAML / Silverlight
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
- Oracle database
Results
The Virginia Grown mobile application has been downloaded over 200 times and is currently receiving 4 1/2 star rating out of 5 by Windows 7 users.Recent comments include:
- “Check it out and add this app. Very cool for Local Food folks in Virginia....”
- “Great source for information, thanks VA”
- “Another great method of supporting our local farmers”