codefornola / project-ideas Goto Github PK

What problem are we trying to solve?

Exploratory data dive into campaign finance source for local elections

Who will benefit (directly and indirectly) from this project?

Transparency/ education for everyone

Links to any research/data available/articles

https://data.nola.gov

What are the next steps (validation, research, coding, design)?

FInding the data

What help is needed at this time?

Kind of up to me at this point

What problem are we trying to solve?

One idea that came out of the event we hosted for the National Day of Civic Hacking was to build a tool that would give the formerly incarcerated a digital support group where they can share their stories and provide useful information to others involved in the reentry process. One key observation was that those who are returning from prison are more trusting of those who have been through similar experiences.

This tool would help humanize the formerly incarcerated by allowing them to write about their experiences. Success stories can help motivate those who are transitioning back to society while other stories can help reveal the truth of what actually happens to the people who are released from prison and can serve to highlight breakdowns in the corrections system.

Additionally, this tool could be a place to find and read reviews of social services, as well as providing feedback and reviews about the 211 and other reentry services.

Who will benefit (directly and indirectly) from this project?

This project would directly help those transitioning back to society and indirectly benefit the family, friends, and other advocates.

Links to any research/data available/articles

NOLA For Life offers a resource guide with a lot of useful information for those returning from prison. However this is a static resource that doesn't allow for any feedback.

V.O.T.E, Voice Of The Ex-Offender was mentioned as a possible partner that could help administer and moderate the site.

Vialink is the 211 provider who maintains a database of Health and Human Services Resources.

Ohana is a project built by Code for America fellows to help maintain their own resource directory of human service providers. It could serve as a good starting point for our social service review component.

The City of New Orleans is tracking their progress towards public safety objectives on ResultsNOLA and some metrics are specifically about reentry

What are the next steps (validation, research, coding, design)?

One major assumption is that those returning from prison would have access to the internet. Another assumption is that they would have the digital literacy needed to use the site or have someone who could help them. We need to validate these assumptions and do more research on the types of users who are using this site. Developing some user personas would be a helpful next step.

Also, we need to find out how we can get the data to populate our database of social services. Vialink doesn't appear to allow us to scrape their site judging by the ominous warning on their site that reads "This proprietary data is for the use of VIA LINK 2-1-1 and its clients. Its use by any other agency or organization is strictly forbidden and subject to prosecution"

What help is needed at this time?

Eventually we need a clearly defined project owner but for now it would be useful to have some more input from others who are interested in keeping the ball rolling on this project.

People who commute into New Orleans face the prospect of paying high prices for pay lots, struggling to find valid parking spaces on the street, or relying on fee-based services such as taxis and Uber. Through software, we could help educate commuters about the public transportation system and help them develop plans for using public transportation to get to their destinations at minimal cost.

The primary beneficiaries will be people who live outside of New Orleans and drive their own vehicles into the city. The public transportation system will benefit through increased ridership and good press. This project could also benefit parking-lot owners who are willing to give special pricing to users of the system. A successful implementation of this project could serve as a model for other cities.

What problem are we trying to solve?

We would like to help BikeEasy by developing tools they can use to engage the community to build a better bike network. This can be tools to help Bike Easy members survey the rider community, or web/mobile apps that allow cyclists to identify problem spots, or map visualizations that help planners identify and prioritize where to spend resources improving the bike network.

Who will benefit (directly and indirectly) from this project?

Directly, people who ride their bikes in the city will benefit. Indirectly Bike Easy and the City will benefit from proposals that are data driven.

Links to any research/data available/articles

The City of New Orleans already maintains information about bike transportation:

Existing Bike Lanes
Bike Rack Locations
Crash Counts By Intersection

What are the next steps (validation, research, coding, design)?

The next steps are to meet with Bike Easy to further refine the project ideas and priorities.

What help is needed at this time?

If you have expertise in city planning, building online or mobile surveying tools, GIS, or user interface development, we'd love to have you help!

What problem are we trying to solve?

When Code for Nola has an idea for a project, users who are not 'tech savvy' or that do not have a GitHub account will not be able to become engaged in the project. By having the projects in the home page, we'll be able have outsiders participate.

Who will benefit (directly and indirectly) from this project?

Both the community and the brigade. The community will learn about projects and provide feedback, the brigade will be more in touch with the needs of the future users.

Links to any research/data available/articles

Coming soon.

What are the next steps (validation, research, coding, design)?

Coming soon.

What help is needed at this time?

Feedback from the brigade, and figuring out if we want to link to the actual github project repositories.

Notes:

• Having an upvote/like button will allow people to have a 'voice' on what project ideas are more important to them.
• Connectin with facebook and twitter will increase visibility and accessibility.

What problem are we trying to solve?

Improve data on public transportation.

Who will benefit (directly and indirectly) from this project?

Public transportation riders

Links to any research/data available/articles

• https://github.com/bhelx/norta-data/
• Realtime Documentation: https://github.com/bhelx/norta-data/blob/master/docs/norta_realtime_api.md
• http://norta.simst.im/

What are the next steps (validation, research, coding, design)?

We are trying to help the RTA build a new system for tracking the locations of buses and streetcars

What help is needed at this time?

• Database queries (get access from me)
• Attend RIDE meetings