Next City
25 February 2016
Text / 800-1500 Words
Mexico City, Mexico
By “gamifying” the process, urban planners can crowdsource data collection. In Mexico City, members of 14 organizations—ranging from government agencies to nonprofits and consultants—launched a city-wide game, Mapatón CDMX, in an effort to collect data and map the complex transportation system. To participate, users downloaded an app and mapped transit routes for points.
http://projects.buffalonews.com/fix-buffalo-schools/how-los-angeles-got-kids-in-school.html
Mary B. Pasciak
The Buffalo News
27 September 2015
Text / Over 3000 Words
Schools in Los Angeles have strict consequences for truancy and tardiness but offer rewards and recognition for good attendance. Administrators use iPhones to record the ID numbers of tardy students, tracking them in order to engage the appropriate intervention.
http://blog.ted.com/crisis-text-line-nears-2-million-messages-answered
Kate Torgovnick May
TED Blog
6 May 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Crisis Text Line provides counseling services via text, a medium with which teens are sometimes more comfortable. The approach complements the work of counselors and collects data for research purposes.
https://medium.com/bright/what-if-we-prescribed-video-games-and-not-ritalin-to-treat-adhd-88a55104ad26
Greg Toppo
Bright Magazine
11 May 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Game inventors have created a new game to help students who suffer from ADHD and other mental problems develop and stimulate their brains in a safer, more targeted way than normal medicines.
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/10/14/440886037/higher-eds-moneyball
Eric Westervelt
NPR
14 October 2015
Radio / 5-15 Minutes
A Florida community college is boosting learning and graduation rates with new technology that gets professors access to real-time data on student engagement and performance.
http://www.wnyc.org/story/freelance-nation-greatest-economic-transformation-human-history
Manoush Zomorodi
WNYC
16 October 2013
Radio / Over 15 Minutes
The 2008 recession’s job losses spurred a development of a Do-It-Yourself economy. With the advent of Uber, Etsy, Airbnb, and others, the marketplace has become full of micro-entrepreneurs who thrive with independent web-assisted businesses.
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2015/11/29/reducing-blight-possible-experts-say/75869108
Lex Talamo
The Shreveport Times
29 November 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Shreveport, Louisiana, faces blight. New Orleans decreased blight by 30 percent by creating an authority for the task, using technology to collect data, and providing residents with information and help.
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/12/09/458806442/for-young-saudi-women-video-games-offer-self-expression
Deborah Amos
NPR
9 December 2015
Radio / 3-5 Minutes
In Saudi Arabia, female gamers were barred from gaming conventions so an all-female gaming convection was born, offering women a place of self expression and encouraging careers in science and computer programming.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/how-cities-are-searching-for-solutions-among-massive-mounds-of-data/article23131733
John Lorinc
The Globe and Mail
20 February 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
New York City suffered from fires that erupted in overcrowded, run-down apartments. Then the city sleuthed through residential records and found that landlords who foreclosed let their properties fall apart and ignored safety-code violations. Greater Toronto wants to expand upon New York City’s method by using transportation surveys, census data and computer data to build transit lines.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article/20131222/News/312229757
Greg Barnes
Fayetteville Observer
22 December 2013
Text / Under 800 Words
Areas of High Point, North Carolina have suffered from crime, poverty, and neglect, until the city began implementing Operation Ceasefire, a policing program that uses data collecting, community support against crime. High Point is now leading the country in its success of Operation Ceasefire, boasting dramatic reductions in violent crimes, domestic abuse, robberies, and drug-related offenses.
http://khn.org/news/in-alameda-county-a-big-data-effort-to-prevent-frequent-er-visits
Jenny Gold
Kaiser Health News
22 June 2016
Text / 800-1500 Words
ER staff often have no idea they are sharing patients with other hospitals just a mile away. So they treat those patients completely independently, often repeating tests unnecessarily, assigning them multiple case managers when only one is needed and offering contradictory advice. In Alameda County, hospitals are now sharing patient records of “super-users” to save money and avoid duplicating medical treatment.
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