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Tech for Turnout

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

April 17, 2019 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Illinois

High tech tools offer low cost ways to reach many voters and mobilize turnout, especially in mid term elections. From applications that allow campaigns to deliver personal text messages to hundreds of people at once, to new digital platforms for online polling and campaign management, many of the successful campaigns launched across the country during and after 2016 have leveraged these tech innovations to engage with voters.

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Anyone Who Needs Help Seeing Has 2 Million Pairs of Eyes Available With This App

Monica Humphries

April 17, 2019 |

NationSwell |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Denmark

Using the camera of a smartphone, individuals who are blind or visually impaired can receive quick and easy help from volunteers. The Danish company, Be My Eyes uses a smartphone application to connect those who are blind or visually impaired to an international network of sighted volunteers ready to assist. The on-demand access to assistance provides visually impaired individuals with more independence in their daily lives.

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Six years later: Learning from the deadly West fertilizer plant explosion

Erin Cargile

April 16, 2019 |

KXAN-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, West, Texas

Following a deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant, cities in Texas are taking preventative measures. Emergency Management Specialists have updated and are employing software that tracks hazardous material storage in facilities around the state and generates disaster scenarios. The software can be used in real-time by firefighters and other emergency responders on their way to the scene.

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How Drones and GPS Are Helping Indigenous People in Ecuador Save the Amazon

Kimberley Brown

April 16, 2019 |

Pacific Standard |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ecuador

The indigenous Cofan community in Ecuador, battling miners and other seeking to use their ancestral land, have a new tool to fight them: mapping. By working with non-profits who trained locals to use data and GPS technology, the Cofan now map the environmental resources worth protecting. They are using this data to make the case for why the land should stay in their hands.

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One Way to Combat Climate Change: A Smartphone App That Lets Farmers Control Where Their Cows Graze

Kevin J. Ryan

April 15, 2019 |

Inc. Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

A San Diego startup called Vence has created a device that can help farmers control their livestock’s movements and behavior. The new technology – a collar with accompanying software – buzzes when an animal is somewhere it shouldn’t be and shocks them if they keep going. While the practice of shocking animals isn’t universally approved, doing so can prevent overgrazing and thus improve overall land health.

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Endangered rhinos are now being protected by powerful data analytics

Adele Peters

April 15, 2019 |

FastCompany |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: South Africa

To fight a recent surge in endangered rhino poaching, the South African government began utilizing data analytics typically used to study consumers to map out poaching networks. Piecing together data from sources as varied as the serial numbers on guns left behind in parks, police data, intelligence data, and social media posts that show relationships between people, the government was able to isolate a European supplier that supplied most of the poachers' guns.

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This company uses AI to flag racist and sexist comments from potential hires

Kathryn Vasel

April 12, 2019 |

CNN |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

A company called Fama Technologies has developed a tool for businesses to analyze a potential candidate's public digital footprint for problematic comments or behaviors around sexual harassment, bigotry, and bullying. The company's analysis does not give a yes or no, nor does it provide a score. Rather, it surfaces the examples of bigotry and lets the company decide what to do. Fama also reports a 99.98% accuracy rate with its artificial intelligence-driven tool.

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A smart solution to vision problems

Andrada Fiscutean

April 10, 2019 |

Nature |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya

An ophthalmologist has created a smartphone application that allows not just doctors, but also non-specialists such as teachers, to conduct eye tests. The application helps those living in remote areas to access a service they otherwise may not be able to get and also allows for the few ophthalmologists who live in the area to only see the cases that are deemed necessary.

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They Found a Way to Use Science in the Fight for Human Rights – and It's Working

Alison Kotch

April 08, 2019 |

NationSwell |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

A special cross-sector collaboration has emerged with the On Call Scientists Hotline by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Human rights advocates call the hotline when they're in need of data to back up their findings, and on the receiving end are volunteers with expertise in areas like forensic chemistry, public health, refugee trauma and food/environmental toxins. This immediate response with analyzing research, filling in data, and reviewing reports helps those on the frontline of human rights make stronger arguments in service of their cause.

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How Tribes Are Harnessing Cutting-Edge Data to Plan for Climate Change

Terrie Hansen

March 29, 2019 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Puget Sound

For many tribal and indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest, the impact of climate changes has already become terrifyingly clear. As communities attempt to plan and adapt to new environmental conditions, the Climate Impacts Group at University of Washington is working to provide hyper-localized data that can help predict changes and allow communities to change accordingly, and in line with cultural traditions.

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