Annual Operating Cost of 10 Million Won, Gwangju Dong-gu Doodream Becomes a 'Tax-Eating Hippo'

89% of Members Inactive for Over a Year

Lack of Speed and Content, District to "Seek Solutions"

Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, developed the mobile public app 'Do Dream' with a budget of 13.6 million won to promote district news and other information, but it has effectively become a ghost app after more than five years.

With an annual operating cost of 10 million won funded by residents' taxes, about 90% of the public app's members have not logged in for a long time, leading to criticism that it is a "tax-eating hippo."

It has been revealed that the 'Dudream' app, developed by Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City in 2017 and operating with an annual budget of 10 million won, has almost no users.

According to Dong-gu on the 17th, the district developed the public app 'Do Dream' in 2017 with a budget of 13.6 million won, aiming to provide convenient administrative services in daily life, such as district news and civil complaint submissions.

Later, in 2021, four years after its launch, Dong-gu promoted the app as having surpassed 20,000 members and established itself as a real-time communication channel. At that time, Mayor Im Taek said, "Do Dream has become an essential app for residents' daily lives."

The number of Do Dream members stands at 26,219 as of this month.

The problem is that among the total members, 23,430 have not logged in even once for over a year, 21,819 for over two years, and 19,688 for over three years.

About 89% of the total members are effectively not using the app. Every year, 10 million won of residents' taxes are wasted on operating costs, earning the app the label of a "tax-eating hippo."

The main reasons why this app, which receives a large annual investment, has become useless are its slow service response speed and lack of competitive content.

Although Dong-gu recognized the response speed issue through a user satisfaction survey in 2018, it has not been improved for several years. In fact, when using the app, it took about three seconds to move between categories.

When selecting the 'Policy Vote' category, the screen switched immediately, but when clicking on 'Dong-gu News' or 'Dong-gu Communication,' the response was frustratingly slow.

Moreover, there is a severe lack of diverse content such as reading materials and visual content. For example, the 'Single-Person Household' section in Dong-gu News had only four posts, including 'Introducing Solo Dining Restaurants.'

A resident commented, "The slow response speed issue, which can be noticed within one minute of use, has not been improved for years. Considering the design and content quality, it seems far below the expectations of local residents living in the information age."

They added, "If the utilization rate is low compared to the cost, the app should either be improved through continuous updates or realistically discontinued."

In response, a Dong-gu official stated, "We will establish a member management monitoring system and seek ways to activate the app," adding, "We will also take measures to improve the speed-related complaints within the first half of the year."