citizen monitoring

Bettendorf plans to hire an Israeli-based company that would use artificial intelligence software to monitor citizen interactions on Internet platforms including Facebook, Twitter and local news sites.

The $18,000 annual contract with ZenCity is on the council's consent agenda that is expected to be approved without discussion at tonight's city council meeting (12/4).

According to the council information, the firm would monitor "social media, news outlets and other sources, tracking trends on topics that are being circulated on various media platforms. . ."