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The weird rise of cyber funerals

Ruby Lott-Lavigna

February 17, 2019 |

Wired |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: South Korea, Seoul

People are accustomed to organizing funerals when they lose a loved one, but technology has given rise to a need for digital funerals as well. In order to expunge a person's digital footprint once, companies in South Korea are offering cyber funerals that aim to get rid of all online data after a person has passed away.

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Want to hire a refugee? This program can match you with someone with the right skills

Adele Peters

February 15, 2019 |

FastCompany |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada

Talent Beyond Boundaries is an organization that connects refugees with specialized skillsets to employers who can offer them jobs (and visas) in Canada and Australia. For many such refugees, employers traditionally ask for documentation that those fleeing from unsafe conditions cannot provide, but the organizations connect them to jobs, as well as giving English lessons, updating resumes, and conducting practice interviews.

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Making an App to Make a Difference

Tina Rosenberg

February 12, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The lack of technology and app solutions for social problems is beginning to change thanks to the help of a growing group of technology accelerators (also called incubators) aimed at tech companies focused on social impact, rather than traditional profit-focused start-ups. Incubators like Blue Ridge Labs, Fast Forward, and Financial Solutions Lab offer capital, connections, and mentorship.

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Where Sex Education Fails, Technology Can Help

Sydney Worth

February 05, 2019 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

A smartphone app connects users with sex experts who are qualified to answer questions about healthy sex and relationships. Juicebox aims to fill gaps in the heteronormative sex education offered in U.S. schools and serves as a substitute for students who receive no sex education or who are only exposed to abstinence-only lessons.

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Smart Grid Experiment Saves Participants the Equivalent of One Electric Bill Per Year

Lynne Peskoe-Yang

February 04, 2019 |

IEEE Spectrum |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Turkey, Istanbul

Gamifying energy-efficient behavior can help consumers adjust their habits. Project GresBAS (Grid Responsive Society through Building Automation Systems) incentivizes consumers by allowing them to compete against their own personal records, as well as their neighbors. The Project has piloted studies in Turkey and Portugal, signaling the broader possibilities of gamifying user interactions with smart grid technologies.

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When It's Hard to Make Ends Meet, Can Smart Apps Help?

Tina Rosenberg

February 04, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Elsie, Michigan

Smartphone technology levels the playing field for low-income people, utilizing services that manage SNAP food-assistance budgets, pay parking tickets on time, payday loans, and more. Applications like Fresh EBT work with families to create budgets to better manage their monthly income.

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Portland, Ore., Tackles Untested Sexual Assault Kits with Tech

Zack Quaintance

February 01, 2019 |

Government Technology |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

To tackle the backlog of untested sexual assault kits, police agencies in Portland, Oregon collaborated with the Portland Bureau of Technology Services to create a tracking system for the kits, leading to a decrease in untested kits and ensuring that data was able to be analyzed and shared quickly when necessary. The Sexual Assault Management System, known as SAMS, is now being scaled to cities across America.

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States Battle the Devastating Opioid Crisis with Data

Theo Douglas

February 01, 2019 |

Government Technology |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Indiana

States across the country are using technology to find innovative ways to battle the opioid crisis, including heat maps of naloxone administrations and data hubs for information sharing across local boundaries. The changes have helped states develop early warning systems and increased emergency response for those who've been revived by naloxone, and states are hoping for more improved results from the technology soon.

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Why Technology Hasn't Fixed the Housing Crisis

Emily Badger

January 29, 2019 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Berkeley, California

Affordable housing organizations and ventures learn from failures in the tech industry to understand why affordable housing hasn't been solved by the influx of resources from the start-up community. While many tech companies dance around the issue of affordable housing, organizations are learning that, to combat high rent and real estate rates, individuals need more money in their pockets or to spend less on housing each month.

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In Thailand, tracking animal health to prevent outbreaks of human disease

Fred de Sam Lazaro

January 23, 2019 |

PBS NewsHour |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Thailand, Huay Ton Chok

Connecting villagers to local governments and researchers is important to controlling possible disease outbreaks at their source. The One Health disease protection program, also known as PODD, uses funding from Ending Pandemics, a San Francisco nonprofit, to run an app and system through which villagers and local officials can interface with health organizations. A special app developed translates local languages and transmits information back to organizations, agencies, and researchers at local universities.

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