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How an IIT Madras Initiative Is Powering 9,000 Homes at a Fraction of Traditional Electricity Costs

Priya Mohan

June 07, 2017 |

The Better India |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Jaipur, Rajasthan

A team of engineers at IIT Madras, a public university in India, has partnered with local utilities and the national Ministry of Power to bring sustainable, low-cost electricity to off-grid rural villages in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. With solar power supplied by DC microgrids, these poor rural communities are experiencing transformations to increase quality-of-life: affordable fridges that aid in food preservation, fans which mitigate heat and repel mosquitoes, and battery-powered phones connecting them to public emergency services.

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If You See Dirty Water, Don't Just Gripe. Talk To The Cloud!

Chhavi Sachdev

June 07, 2017 |

NPR |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Delhi

Scientists and activists in India are training citizens to collect information on water issues like contamination — and upload it so it can be used to push for change.

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Food: Farming for the Future

Gelareh Darabi, Ndoni Khanyile

June 06, 2017 |

Al Jazeera |

Broadcast TV News |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: South Africa

As climate change continues to advance, its impact on farmlands has become more pronounced and increasingly devastating. Farmers and researchers in both South Africa and Nepal are working towards solutions to problems specifically related to climate change. Centered on developing technology, these farmers have found success with NASA satellite imagery as well as local clinics.

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The Future of CRM and Customer Service: Look to Boston

Tod Newcombe

June 01, 2017 |

Government Technology |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

To better serve the Boston community, the city launched a mobile app to address gaps in traditional 311 hotline calls. Now, "nearly 60 percent of service requests come via digital channels" and city officials are better able to "track the city’s performance against a benchmark service-level agreement."

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Cloud 311 Popularity Grows as Cities of All Sizes Move to Remotely Hosted CRM

Tod Newcombe

June 01, 2017 |

Government Technology |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Sacramento, California

Traditional 311 operations can be costly to maintain, so the city of Sacramento implemented cloud CRM in order to cut costs and increase flexibility of operations. While there is still room to expand what is offered, this cloud-based solution does offer the "ability to set up and launch 311 quickly, without the need for IT staff to maintain the servers and networks."

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311: From a Hotline to a Platform for Citizen Engagement

Tod Newcombe

June 01, 2017 |

Government Technology |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Boston's 311 mobile application, launch in 2009, exemplifies the new customer service-oriented era of the citizen service, which allows users to request services, take photos of potholes, and offer data to city planners. Neighboring Somerville, Massachusetts has a successful 311 app of its own, where an analytics team crunches the wealth of data generated by the app service. But Kansas City, Missouri's 311 services are even more developed, and citizens can access the city via the app, clal-in, Twitter, and social media.

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How New York Is Building the Power Grid of the Future

Leslie Kaufman

May 25, 2017 |

Inside Climate News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

New York is determined to become a national leader in the renewable energy sector, and they are leveraging numerous approaches to help integrate better and more environmentally conscious technologies into the grid. The multi-faceted approach includes updating laws and regulations to be more renewables-friendly, hosting competitions to foster entrepreneurship and creative solutions in the field, piloting new technologies, and creating better incentives for utility companies.

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Italy's pollution-eating cement

Gelareh Darabi

May 25, 2017 |

Al Jazeera |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Italy, Milan, Lombardy

Respiratory diseases caused by air pollution now account for more premature deaths in people worldwide than malaria and HIV combined. To address increasing contamination levels, particularly in cities, scientists have developed a new kind of cement that absorbs pollutants like CO2. The special cement is being manufactured in Milan, and used around in the world in cities like Paris and Chicago.

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Turning CO2 into stone in Iceland

Russell Beard

May 25, 2017 |

Al Jazeera |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Iceland, Hellisheiðarvirkjun, Southern Region

Iceland, hit by the oil crises of the 1970s, turned to geothermal energy - and they haven't turned back. The island is now powered by 100% renewable energy, and they are taking it one step more, looking to further cut emissions using a unique carbon capture system called CarbFix. It is being pioneered at the Hellsheidi geothermal power plant in western Iceland.

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Could we better handle catastrophes if we knew they were coming?

Larry Mantle

May 24, 2017 |

Southern California Public Radio (KPCC) |

Radio |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Experts warn us about disasters. Climate change, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the rise of ISIS were all predicted ahead of time. Listening to these warnings requires pushing past the desire to shut down when contemplating big catastrophes, looking critically at available data, and being willing to entertain the possibility that an event can happen that has never happened before.

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