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Where Tech Is Helping People Become Better Neighbors

Nick Fouriezos

November 25, 2019 |

OZY |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Napa, California

From Google's India-focused app Neighbourly to the wellknown Nextdoor app, social media specifically targeted at connecting neighbors is gaining ground. Whether being used to rate neighborhood attractions, encourage borrowing or sharing of resources, report suspicious neighborhood activity or simply to find a way to make connections, these apps are aimed at decreasing social isolation and increasing community interactions.

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Airbus is making planes lighter with technology we barely understand

Mark Wilson

November 20, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany, Hamburg

An engineering company called Autodesk uses the concept of "generative deisgn" - design facilitated by Artificial Intelligence to create structural renderings unimagined by the human brain - to create lighter and more durable airplanes. Generative design uses the calculations of artificial intelligence software to create thousands of ergonomic designs, based on an input of desired force and shape of the plane part - or other architectural puzzles pieces.

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Car-Mounted Ads Take a New Direction: Data Collection

Sarah Holder

November 20, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A startup called Firefly uses a comprehensive approach to its sensor-equipped advertising screens by simultaneously showing advertisements on top of Uber and Lyft vehicles and collecting data about the drive and surrounding environment. While the technology is being piloted in five cities, officials try to solve privacy questions and concerns to ensure collected data can help cities to monitor pollution levels or collect sound data - not invade citizens' privacy,

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Can technology fix the silent opioid crisis gripping US hospitals?

Annabelle Timsit Justin Rohrlich

November 19, 2019 |

Quartz |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

Tracking controlled substances can be difficult for hospitals, which often results in drugs being diverted from where they are supposed to go. To tackle this problem, technology companies are stepping in by creating software that utilizes a machine-learning algorithm that "can identify risky prescription and dispensation patterns among healthcare staff."

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GPS for Air Travel Came With Big Downsides: Noise, Then Lawsuits

Amy Zipkin

November 18, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Scottsdale, Arizona

To enhance air travel, the F.A.A. rolled out a system that enables airplanes to fly closer together using GPS, rather than the traditional radar locators. But residents near these new flight paths have risen up to contest the air pollution created by the lower, more frequent flight patterns. With impending lawsuits, the F.A.A. has to work with local officials to create a joint solution.

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High-tech mapping, apps fight deadly dengue outbreak in Honduras

Anastasia Moloney

November 14, 2019 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Honduras

Mobile phone apps allow NGOs to track public health threats. In Honduras, the medical charity, Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF) uses GIS technology and mobile phone apps to assist in their efforts against dengue fever outbreaks. Apps allow residents to report outbreaks, which helps the charity apply its efforts where they are most needed. MSF also uses apps to learn about conditions in the communities it serves.

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There's No App for Getting People Out of Their Cars

David Zipper

November 13, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Though apps that provide a common platform to view various transit, bike, and pedestrian routes have become more popular, they're not the only way to get people out of their cars and onto more sustainable transportation modes. This story addresses the limitations of mobile apps as well as the successes of integrating more reliable and frequent transit methods in reducing regular car use.

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Safer at sea: The unexpected benefit of traceability for small-scale fishers

Laura Villadiego

November 12, 2019 |

Mongabay |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Philippines, General Santos City

Efforts to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing also make fishermen safer at sea. Vessel Monitoring Mechanisms (VMM) and electronic catch documentation (eCDT) track the origin of fish headed to market, part of an international effort to ensure sustainable and equitable practices. Data transmission also makes fishermen safer, relaying their locations from hundreds of miles out at sea. In the Philippines, a partnership between Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise (FAME) and USAID Oceans and Fisheries Partnership helps cover subscription fees for FAME radio transmitter service.

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This startup helps match veterans to the support services they need

Gwen Moran

November 11, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A new national startup helps connect veteran service organizations to make enrollment processes easier for veterans seeking help. The startup - called Unite Us - aims to bring together the 46,000 agencies that provide services to veterans to make it easier for veterans to quickly transfer from agency to agency to best meet their needs.

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Changing Lives by Building Credit History — One Microloan at a Time

Farida Jhabvala Romero

November 08, 2019 |

KQED |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

A program through the Mission Asset Fund, based in San Francisco, helps low-income communities get loans and good credit from an unlikely source: each other. The initiative pools together funds from family members and neighbors and distributes the loan to one of the contributors each month; the loans are interest free and allow community members to build credit without the difficulties of breaking into the typical microfinance realm.

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