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  • How a better headcount reduces homelessness in the US

    Carey L. Biron

    February 02, 2021 |

    The Christian Science Monitor |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States

    The “Built for Zero” campaign relies on frequently updated data collection and a streamlining of homelessness services to reduce the number of unhoused people living on the streets to “functional zero.” The data is housed in one central command center with various agencies, nonprofits, and government offices working together to ensure no one falls through the cracks.

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  • How Covid turbocharged the QR revolution

    David Silverberg

    January 22, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom

    Quick Response (QR) codes have become a popular way to conduct contactless business, and even contact tracing, during the coronavirus pandemic. Restaurants and retail stores allow customers to order and pay by scanning the codes with their smart devices, which pulls funds from payment accounts like PayPal, or their bank account, debit, or credit card. Public health agencies in the UK display QR codes that people can scan to “check in” and if someone tests positive for Covid-19 at that location people who scanned the code within 21 days are notified. QR codes hold massive amounts of data reliably and cheaply.

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  • Is There a Better Way to Collect Data on Homelessness?

    Kriston Capps Max Reyes

    January 22, 2021 |

    Bloomberg |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Bakersfield, California

    A campaign to end housing instability is counting on frequent data collection to provide a clearer insight into the reality and needs of those living on the streets. “Built for Zero” aims to replace the current federal HUD model which consists of a single annual physical count of the unhoused. The data are used to create a command center which streamline the response from various groups and agencies that can address the issue of homelessness. The city of Bakersfield, California, was able to functionally end homelessness even with the onset of the pandemic after implementing the data-driven strategy.

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  • An Algorithm Is Helping a Community Detect Lead Pipes

    Sidney Fussell

    January 14, 2021 |

    Wired |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Flint, Michigan

    BlueConduit, an analytics startup, applies statistical models to identify neighborhoods and households that might have lead pipes. The models include dozens of factors, such as the age of the home and proximity of other homes where lead has been found, to help predict likely locations of lead pipes and create a ranking by likelihood that cities can use to prioritize which pipes to examine. In Flint, MI, about 70% of the homes identified using the models had lead pipes, compared to about 15% of homes where excavations did not use the model. The company is working with organizations in dozens of other cities.

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  • Three countries have pulled far ahead of the rest of the world in distributing Covid-19 vaccines

    Annabelle Timsit

    January 11, 2021 |

    Quartz |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Israel

    Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have each "vaccinated a higher proportion of their populations than the rest of the world" due to strategies that included early approval of the vaccine, centralized and digitized health care data management, and cross-sector information campaigns. Although it's yet to be seen how these efforts will fare when the vaccine is released to the general public, they have proven to be successful for distribution to vulnerable people and communities.

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  • This California city just ended chronic homelessness

    Adele Peters

    January 06, 2021 |

    FastCompany |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Bakersfield, California

    The city of Bakersfield, California, was able to functionally end homelessness even with the onset of the pandemic, after implementing a data-driven strategy led by “Built for Zero.” The initiative focuses on frequent data collection which is then used to create a master command center that all agencies, shelters, and nonprofits work on in conjunction. Pooling resources and working together leads to clearer insight into where the most pressing need is and prevents unhoused people from falling through the cracks.

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  • The Newest Weapon Against Covid-19: AI That Speed-Reads Faxes

    Tom Simonite

    December 22, 2020 |

    Wired |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Contra Costa County, California

    Researchers from Stanford University have developed a software that uses machine-learning algorithms to identify and flag urgent faxes about COVID-19 cases. While the project doesn't have complete accuracy, it has helped overwhelmed and overburdened health care workers at the health department in Contra Costa County, California work more efficiently.

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  • Can an Algorithm Prevent Suicide?

    Benedict Carey

    November 23, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Veterans Affairs' Reach Vet program uses an algorithm weighing 61 factors to flag veterans deemed at highest risk of suicide. While its results have not been shown to affect the suicide rate, it has more than doubled high-risk veterans' uses of V.A. services and been associated with a lower overall mortality rate. Built on an analysis of thousands of previous suicides in the V.A.'s system, Reach Vet assesses scores of facts from medical records, including some that are not obvious to humans trying to spot problems. Doctors then intervene and ensure the veteran has a suicide safety plan in place.

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  • The ambitious effort to piece together America's fragmented health data

    Nicole Wetsman

    October 19, 2020 |

    The Verge |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and the health impacts it may have for different people prompted doctors from across the U.S. to create a national patient database to better study and understand how the virus interacts with other underlying conditions. Although the database itself is adaptable and researchers hope it can also be used in the face of future pandemics, they also say "five years from now, the greatest value of this data set won’t be the data. It’ll have been the methods that we learned trying to get it working."

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  • Hope, the Senegalese app that saves lives by optimizing blood donations

    Morgane le Cam

    August 30, 2020 |

    Heidi.news |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Senegal, Thies

    An app developed by a two telecommunications design engineers in Senegal is helping to connect hospitals with blood donors. The app alerts donors in nearby areas when blood is needed and sends "messages of thanks and donation reminders," which has helped to decrease the regional stigma about donating blood. Although the technology has not achieved widespread adoption, where it has been used, blood donations have significantly increased.

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