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Worried about losing engagement with COVID remote learning? A school district created an app for that

April Barton

February 08, 2021 |

Burlington Free Press |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, Texas

The San Antonio Independent School District developed an app to help combat the Covid-slide among its students, including English Language Learning students. The app tracks interactions, class attendance, and completed assignments, but also correspondence and in-person interactions. Administrators took the data collected on its close to 50,000 students and developed strategies to direct special attention or make contact with students with decreased engagement. Out of 48,000 students, only 142 didn't have a contact log.

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How a Young Activist Is Helping Pope Francis Battle Climate Change

David Owen

February 08, 2021 |

The New Yorker |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Holy See (Vatican City State), Rome

Molly Burhans, a young cartographer and environmentalist, is using GIS technology to map out the Catholic Church’s global property holdings to encourage them to improve the environmental impact on the lands they own. Burhans’ organization called GoodLands has been working with various parishes and dioceses to help Church leaders — including Pope Francis — understand their vast landholdings. While finances and COVID-19 have impacted her progress, Burhans’ maps have been used for other purposes like mapping Catholic radio stations in Africa and tracking the whereabouts of priests accused of sexual abuse.

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How a better headcount reduces homelessness in the US

Carey L. Biron

February 02, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

The “Built for Zero” campaign relies on frequently updated data collection and a streamlining of homelessness services to reduce the number of unhoused people living on the streets to “functional zero.” The data is housed in one central command center with various agencies, nonprofits, and government offices working together to ensure no one falls through the cracks.

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Meet the TikTok stars using viral videos to save the planet

Rosie Frost

January 28, 2021 |

Euronews |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

The growing account known as “EcoTok” on the social media app TikTok is working to expose more people to data about the climate crisis and tackle scientific misinformation. With more than 80,000 followers and 1.2 million likes, the account features short videos with scientists, students, and activists highlighting ways that young people can be more sustainable. Their ability to engage people in environmental and scientific issues has led to partnerships with TED Countdown and the UN Environment Programme.

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West Virginia has a simple system that avoids wasting vaccine doses

Adele Peters

January 28, 2021 |

FastCompany |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, West Virginia

West Virginia has implemented a digital platform that allows residents to sign up for notifications if leftover doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are available for use near them. Although the system is only accessible to those with internet, it has resulted in far fewer people phoning the hotline, which in turn has allowed for greater ease for those without internet access to sign up for appointments.

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Is There a Better Way to Collect Data on Homelessness?

Kriston Capps Max Reyes

January 22, 2021 |

Bloomberg |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Bakersfield, California

A campaign to end housing instability is counting on frequent data collection to provide a clearer insight into the reality and needs of those living on the streets. “Built for Zero” aims to replace the current federal HUD model which consists of a single annual physical count of the unhoused. The data are used to create a command center which streamline the response from various groups and agencies that can address the issue of homelessness. The city of Bakersfield, California, was able to functionally end homelessness even with the onset of the pandemic after implementing the data-driven strategy.

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How Covid turbocharged the QR revolution

David Silverberg

January 22, 2021 |

BBC |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Quick Response (QR) codes have become a popular way to conduct contactless business, and even contact tracing, during the coronavirus pandemic. Restaurants and retail stores allow customers to order and pay by scanning the codes with their smart devices, which pulls funds from payment accounts like PayPal, or their bank account, debit, or credit card. Public health agencies in the UK display QR codes that people can scan to “check in” and if someone tests positive for Covid-19 at that location people who scanned the code within 21 days are notified. QR codes hold massive amounts of data reliably and cheaply.

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One, two, tree: how AI helped find millions of trees in the Sahara

Amy Fleming

January 15, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Algeria

Tree mapping helps researchers understand deforestation and climate change, however the technologies used often miss trees that aren’t clustered. Researchers, in collaboration with NASA, used high-resolution satellite images, previously only available to commercial entities, to find a surprisingly large number of trees in the Sahara Desert. Using AI deep learning and one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers at the University of Illinois, they identified more than 1.8 billion trees, manually marking nearly 90,000 so the computer could “learn” which shapes and shadows indicated the presence of trees.

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An Algorithm Is Helping a Community Detect Lead Pipes

Sidney Fussell

January 14, 2021 |

Wired |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Flint, Michigan

BlueConduit, an analytics startup, applies statistical models to identify neighborhoods and households that might have lead pipes. The models include dozens of factors, such as the age of the home and proximity of other homes where lead has been found, to help predict likely locations of lead pipes and create a ranking by likelihood that cities can use to prioritize which pipes to examine. In Flint, MI, about 70% of the homes identified using the models had lead pipes, compared to about 15% of homes where excavations did not use the model. The company is working with organizations in dozens of other cities.

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Three countries have pulled far ahead of the rest of the world in distributing Covid-19 vaccines

Annabelle Timsit

January 11, 2021 |

Quartz |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Israel

Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have each "vaccinated a higher proportion of their populations than the rest of the world" due to strategies that included early approval of the vaccine, centralized and digitized health care data management, and cross-sector information campaigns. Although it's yet to be seen how these efforts will fare when the vaccine is released to the general public, they have proven to be successful for distribution to vulnerable people and communities.

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