The White House announced the creation of 29 tools Thursday that use Federal and local data to address problems identified by Federal agencies as part of the Opportunity Project, an open data effort to improve economic mobility for all Americans.
The Department of Energy said that educational equity is a national priority. In order to achieve educational equity, Data Society and Kitamba built the Philadelphia School Resource Mapper. The Mapper uses Census Bureau, Health and Human Services, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services data to help schools create partnerships and identify where non-profit organizations can make the greatest impact.
Great Schools and Education Cities created the Opportunity Dashboard to measure gaps in educational opportunities using college readiness data from the Department of Education. LiveStories built LiveStories IQ to compare customizable data on education funding between districts.
The Department of Transportation said that access to transit should be improved for disadvantaged communities. Create.io and mySidewalk created tools that track traffic patterns using DOT data. Split built a Zip Code Commuter App that displays areas that lack transit options.
The Office of the Surgeon General and the Department of Veterans Affairs wanted to concentrate on emotional well-being, including a specific emphasis on mental health and suicide.
The Open Medicine Institute and Crisis Text Line created a TextHelp tool that includes a guide for supportive resources. University of Oregon’s Effortless Assessment of Risk States (EARS) collects data from smartphones about behavior patterns and nearby resources in order to give individualized interventions for people experiencing mental health problems.
The Department of Labor focused on increasing apprenticeships that would lead to jobs. HackerNest created a platform for people to navigate through finding jobs in the Federal government. Pairin uses DOL data to match people to jobs in their area based on their skills and experiences.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development made it a priority to promote housing affordability and access in low-income communities. Loveland created FindHome, which uses HUD data to help families navigate housing options, while taking into account transit access, walkability, and school information.
The United States Department of Agriculture chose help rural communities attract new investment and promote economic growth. Ovela built FindYour.town, which identifies funding opportunities in rural communities by using live spatial and funding data from USDA, Census, DOT, and HUD.
