On August 4, the General Services Administration (GSA) launched their Per Diem Mobile App for iPhone and BlackBerry, allowing users to look up Federal government travel reimbursement rates for lodging, meals, and incidentals on the go. An Android version will soon follow, and GSA is looking at integrating location detection into future versions of the app for all three platforms.

The app enables users to search for rates based on city/state or zip code. Currently, rates for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 are available. 2012 rates will be available later this summer, prior to the start of the government’s fiscal year on October 1.

A Collaborative Effort

Since the per diem section of GSA’s website is among the most highly trafficked, it made sense to create an app that would make that information more accessible. GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP), Chief Information Officer and Enterprise Web Management teams began collaborating last fall to discuss requirements. However, the actual app development process took only four weeks.

“The team drew on experience from several members from across GSA, who did an excellent job working together and learned a lot from the experience that will be helpful with future app development,” said Jill Denning, Program Manager, Per Diem Program at OGP.

Reaching Beyond Federal Government

As of August 10, the iPhone app has already been downloaded about 1,500 times; BlackBerry, about 1,100.

Many other U.S. organizations, including state and local governments, nonprofits, and private-sector companies base their travel rates on GSA’s per diem.

“We’re excited to have another way to increase the transparency of per diem rate information for people who are interested in the rates,” noted Denning.