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Trying to Cut Crime in Public Housing by Making It More Livable

Tina Rosenberg

July 10, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

To make neighborhoods safer, New York City is attempting to strengthen "collective efficacy." Research shows that an engaged community, where residents feel they can trust each other and the government, can help lower crime; improving buildings, offering summer jobs, opening a community center, and providing more services are just some of the actions taker to create safer communities - and it's working.

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Leeds is fighting loneliness with an app and a map

Anoush Darabi

July 04, 2018 |

Apolitical |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, Leeds

With a single tap, public health workers in Leeds can use a mobile app to record signs of loneliness in the city. Their observations generate a heat map of social isolation, which then guides community outreach efforts and increases efficiency.

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Governments Explore Using Blockchains to Improve Service

Adrianne Jeffries

June 27, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Arab Emirates, Dubai

Governments around the world are exploring whether blockchain technologies can improve public administration. In theory, blockchain could improve accountability and trust in government. In practice, pilot projects are hitting roadblocks and may take more time to implement and scale than some might hope.

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To Combat Potholes, Cities Turn to Technology

Jenni Bergal

June 18, 2018 |

Governing |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Watch out, potholes. Local governments are coming for you. New technology makes it easier than ever to report potholes, track repairs, and anticipate road issues before they even happen.

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Can 30,000 Cameras Help Solve Chicago's Crime Problem?

Timothy Williams

May 26, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Using advanced data, cameras, and innovative mapping, Chicago is hoping to finally solve crime in the city. Hidden sensors like ShotSpotter and crime forecasting software HunchLab are being used to turn massive amounts of data into usable information for law enforcement officers, but concerns about privacy and surveillance are prevalent.

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Tracing Illegal Guns

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

May 23, 2018 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, Pennsylvania

A publicly available online platform launched by the New York Attorney General fills in big data gaps on guns being used in crimes and trafficked from elsewhere. “We were able to get a snapshot really quickly of where the worst guns are ending up and where they started.” The data can establish groundwork for interstate trafficking cases and also inform policy decisions and New York is happy to share the technology other communities can build their own databases.

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Switzerland's new algorithm could get up to 30% more refugees into work

Jack Graham

May 18, 2018 |

Apolitical |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Switzerland, Bern

Switzerland will soon be piloting a new algorithm to help refugees find jobs. The algorithm uses "machine learning to match geographic employment outcomes with refugees’ personal characteristics, such as gender, age and nationality." Researchers found that using the algorithm would have helped 41% more refugees to be employed between 2011 and 2016, but "real world" impact is yet to be measured. However, there are concerns about transparency and fairness.

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AI tool helps law enforcement find victims of human trafficking

Alexandra Ossola

April 16, 2018 |

Futurism |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

When Emily Kennedy was a teenager traveling in Eastern Europe she saw street kids she learned were trafficked by the Russian mob and decided to tackle human trafficking in her college work. The company she launched, Marinus Analytics, created a software application that has been used by authorities to rescue hundreds of victims in the U.S. and Canada and is expanding. The data it gathers has also debunked assumptions about how and where trafficking takes place.

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Here's how The New York Times is trying to preserve millions of old pages the way they were originally published

Shan Wang

April 12, 2018 |

Nieman Lab |

Multi-Media |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New York

Project Kondo has identified and archived over 7 million New York Times web pages that contain news content in outdated and unsupported formats. Readers can report broken links, but the number of sites to review is too big to do by hand, so the team created an automated tool called ‘munger’ to identify JavaScript with unsupported code and clean it up into HTML that can be shared widely. In order to preserve the content exactly how it was originally published, the websites are moved to a different domain, archive.nytimes.com, where readers are notified that they are reading an archived article.

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A LinkedIn to combat rights abuse?

Emmanuel Freudenthal

March 29, 2018 |

The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN) |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Who Was In Command, is a database that publishes the “names, ranks, and command responsibilities of security forces in Nigeria, Egypt, and Mexico.” That’s because when security forces use excessive force, and commit human rights abuses, often people don’t know their name, and can’t report them. Now, the names are all available in one website.

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