Today President Reagan Romali of Harry S. Truman College launched a 40-computer lab in the northwest corner of the building at 1145 W, Wilson. Here’s information on lab hours and availability of career placement assistance:
President Romali of Truman College announces the opening of a computer lab.
The Smart Chicago Collaborative provided server space on our Amazon Web Service account so that a local developer to develop an algorithm to classify tweets in the service of public health. Here’s how Joe Olson of Tracklytics describes the work:
Tracklytics partnered with Smart Chicago and DePaul University to enter a the Now Trending: #Health in My Community contest sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services. The purpose of the contest was to spur innovation in analyzing social media outlets to detect global health trends. Specifically, the contest requirements were to use Twitter to identify trending topics relating to disease, such as West Nile virus and Legionnaire’s disease.
Tracklytics designed and implemented the solution, DePaul helped with testing and algorithm validation, Smart Chicago funded the computer time.
We did not win the contest, but several innovations were developed. We now have the ability to collect over 1,000,000 disease-related tweets per day. A subset of these tweets are run through a machine learning algorithm, and can be filtered down to a much smaller set of tweets where someone is reporting having an instance of a disease, as well as their location. Current accuracy of this is near 85%. We’ve reduced the cost of classifying tweets down to .0000057 cents/tweet, storing them for analysis down to 0.000000235 cents/tweet/month, and archiving them down to 0.000000004 cents/tweet/month.
You can view the site at http://hhs.tracklytics.com
We are currently working on modifying this technology to track food poisoning cases in Chicago. Once legitimate food poisoning cases reported by individuals are identified by Twitter using the machine learning algorithm, we can send to the person reporting the case a tweet containing a URL directing them to a form to collect more specific information (do you suspect the incident occurred at a restaurant, was from tainted food, etc). This information can them be entered into the City’s 311 system via the Open311 interface, and directed to the City’s Health Department for further analysis.
Lots more to come from this work— stay tuned!
Today the Mayor’s Office and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced the launch of a new interactive web map that pinpoints CDPH’s citywide flu shot clinics based on location and hours of operation. Here’s a snip from the press release:
The Smart Chicago Collaborative hosted project was led by the Tom Kompare, who volunteered his time to develop the app that makes it easy for Chicago residents to stay healthy this flu season by finding their nearest flu shot clinic to get vaccinated. Kompare lives in Rogers Park and also volunteers with Open Government Chicago(-land), a technology meetup group for Chicagoans interested in seeing governments function more efficiently and responsively.
“Helping make City data more accessible and understandable is my way of giving back to Chicago, a sort of e-volunteerism,” said Kompare. “Chicago has made public a really impressive amount of data and it’s up to developers like us to make this data more useful for everyday Chicagoans.”
Smart Chicago is hosting this app on our Amazon Web Services account. If you are a developer working with civic data, you may be eligible for free space on this account. Go here for more info on this program.
If you’re interested in using civic data to make lives better in Chicago, you should join the Open Government Chicago(-land) meetup group!
City of Chicago — Get A Flu Shot Map
“Get a Flu Shot” Sign on the Door of 37th Ward Alderman Emma Mitts’ Ward Office
A Good Idea, on the Side of a Bus: Get A Flu Shot
Recently I helped out in judging for the Urban Sustainability Hakathon hosted by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). The event focused on a subset of the data available from the City of Chicago data portal under sustainable development, energy, transportation, water, buildings, parks/ open space/ food access, and climate.
It was a really great event. I haven’t been at a hackthon since the Knight-Mozilla-MIT “Story and Algorithm” Hack Day back in June, and it has been even longer since I’ve been to a local hackathon. CNT wrote a comprehensive blog post about the event. They have details on all six entrants, including the winner (Edifice) and the two runner-ups (Jitney Driver and Hidden Value in Abandoned Property).
Here’s some thoughts:
Community matters
The great value of this event is the community that results from people meeting and working together. A great example is the Hidden Value in Abandoned Property team of Audrey Henderson and Dan Fehrenbach. Derek Eder made a great tool for viewing reports of vacant and abandoned buildings, but Audrey had a great idea for this data that goes beyond just seeing the data on a map by pairing it with other data that shows its value. She met a great CNT developer in Dan and they executed on a beta of the idea. That kind of connection is worth everything in this world.
Policy is implicit in apps
I was impressed by the team and the thinking behind Jitney Driver. Paula Robinson led us through a presentation about the social and economic benefits of jitney drivers. She referenced August Wilson’s play Jitney, play is set in a worn-down gypsy cab station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in early autumn 1977. Since I actually lived in Pittsburgh in 1977, and well-remember the idea of jitney cabs.
She spoke of how shared rides lead to more connection among neighbors, how jitney driving could lead to local jobs and keeping money in the neighborhood, and how this type of service could fill an existing gap in transportation service. Some in the panel and audience talked about how this plays within the licensing requirements of the City, and even talked about whether we would be customers of such a service.
It was a refreshing example of people coming together to talk about how technology can affect a wide range of areas in society.
Civic Data is Big Business
The winner of the contest was Edifice, created by Cory Mollet and Juan-Pablo Velez. It is a great example of a product that pulls together a series of free things (four types of public data, Open Street Map, Tile Mill, and so on) in a way that creates a whole lot of value. It’s a good reminder that mining public data can lead to great businesses. I have high hopes for Edifice and the entire civic innovation industry here in Chicago.
Here’s a complete set of photos I took during the wrap-up of the hackathon. Congratulations to all participants– keep it up, and consider taking part in the Illinois Open Technology Challenge.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced the Illinois Open Technology Challenge last week. Here’s an excerpt:
The State of Illinois Open Data site, Data.Illinois.Gov, is a searchable clearinghouse of information from state agencies that is helping inform residents about the operation of state government and encouraging the creative use of state information, including the development of applications for mobile devices that can be built around the data. This site, which the governor launched in June 2011, now contains more than 6,500 data sets.
Sponsors of the Illinois Open Technology Challenge include The Chicago Community Trust, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Google, and the Motorola Mobility Foundation. Additional support is being provided by Comcast. Administrative support for the project is provided by the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition and Smart Chicago Collaborative.
This is an important project for Smart Chicago, and it is deeply embedded into our entire program around data. Smart Chicago is housed at the The Chicago Community Trust, which has partnered with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to create the Civic Innovation in Chicago project, which brings together government, developers, journalists, and nonprofits to better understand data and use it to solve community problems.
The Trust and Knight has jointly pledged $50,000 to support prizes for the Illinois Open Technology Challenge because it brings governments, developers and communities together in a common mission to use public data and create digital tools that will serve today’s civic needs and promote economic development.
If you’re interested in participating, join our list and let us know.
Digital skills training has been an important part of the Chicago technology landscape for many years. A comprehensive strategy for digital excellence was laid out in the 2007 report, “The City that NetWorks: Transforming Society and Economy Through Digital Excellence“.
Hundreds of professionals have labored in dozens of programs across the city, doing the daily work of teaching residents how to take part in the digital revolution to use the Internet, get jobs, and participate in civic life.
Connect Chicago has information on many different ways to gain digital skills:
El entrenamiento en informática ha sido una parte importante del panorama tecnológico de Chicago durante muchos años. En el informe de 2007, “The City that NetWorks: Transforming Society and Economy Through Digital Excellence” (La ciudad que se conecta: transformación de la sociedad y economía a través de la excelencia informática), se presentó una estrategia integral para la excelencia informática.
Cientos de profesionales han trabajado en una gran cantidad de programas en la ciudad, enseñando diariamente a los residentes cómo formar parte de la revolución informática para usar el Internet, conseguir trabajos y participar en la vida cívica
Connect Chicago cuenta con información sobre muchas diferentes maneras de recibir entrenamiento en informática:
Szkolenia z umiejętności informatycznych od wielu lat stanowią ważny element krajobrazu technicznego Chicago. W roku 2007 naszkicowano wszechstronną strategię doskonalenia sprawności informatycznej, “Miasto w Sieci: (The City that NetWorks): Transformacja społeczna i gospodarcza dzięki cyber-umiejętnościom“.
Setki fachowców od dawna intensywnie pracują w ramach dziesiątków programów na terenie miasta, i codziennie wtajemniczają naszych mieszkańców w arkana udziału w rewolucji informatycznej, korzystania z Internetu, znajdowania pracy i szerszego udziału w życiu zbiorowości.
Connect Chicago służy informacją o rozmaitych metodach nabywania cyber-umiejętności:
多年来，数字技能培训一直是芝加哥技术领域的一个重要部分。在 2007 年题为“网络城市：通过数字技术卓越进行社会和经济变革”(The City that NetWorks: Transforming Society and Economy Through Digital Excellence) 报告中提出了一套旨在促进数字技术卓越的综合性策略。
有数百名专业人员在芝加哥市的数十个相关计划中辛勤耕耘。他们的日常工作就是辅导居民如何参与这场数字革命，以便使用互联网、找工作以及参与市民生活。
Connect Chicago 所拥有的大量信息能够告诉您获得数字技能的诸多不同方法：
Connect Chicago is a loose network of more than 250 places in the city where internet and computer access, digital skills training, and online learning resources are available—for free.
The work of these people in libraries, colleges, community centers, workforce development centers, and public housing help create a vibrant culture of learning, making Chicago more globally competitive and an all-around better place to live and work.
Connect Chicago is here to help all Chicago residents get connected— no matter where you are in the city, on the skills continuum, or in this universe of access and training providers.
Connect Chicago es una red descentralizada de más de 250 establecimientos en la ciudad en los que el acceso a Internet y a computadoras, el entrenamiento en informática y los recursos de aprendizaje por Internet se encuentran disponibles de forma gratuita.
El trabajo de estas personas en las bibliotecas, los colegios comunitarios, los centros comunitarios, los centros de desarrollo para el trabajador y las urbanizaciones ayuda a crear una cultura dinámica de aprendizaje, haciendo que Chicago sea más competitivo a nivel mundial y sobretodo un mejor lugar para vivir y trabajar.
Connect Chicago está aquí para ayudar a todos los residentes de Chicago a conectarse; sin importar en qué parte de la ciudad estés, en qué nivel estén tus habilidades o en dónde te encuentres en este universo de proveedores de acceso y entrenamiento.
Connect Chicago to luźna sieć ponad 250 ośrodków na terenie miasta, świadczących dostęp do komputerów, szkoleń informatycznych, szlifowania cyber-umiejętności oraz sieciowych zasobów dydaktycznych—bez żadnych opłat.
Praca tych ludzi – w bibliotekach, uczelniach, ośrodkach osiedlowych, ośrodkach kształcenia zawodowego, sprzyja tworzeniu pulsującej kultury samokształceniowej, dzięki której Chicago zyskuje globalną konkurencyjność – i atrakcyjność jako miejsce pracy i osiedlenia.
Rolą Connect Chicago jest świadczenie pomocy wszystkim mieszkańcom miasta w zapewnianiu dostępu – bez względu na Twój rejon miasta, posiadane spektrum umiejętności, czy pozycję wśród zespołów zapewniających innym dostęp sieciowy i cyber-szkolenia.
Connect Chicago 是一个松散的服务网络，由芝加哥市内超过 250 家提供互联网和电脑使用、数字技能培训以及在线学习资源的场所组成，且以上所有服务均为免费。
我们的工作人员在图书馆、大学、社区中心、劳动力发展中心以及公共住宅行业工作。在他们的努力下，芝加哥形成了一种生机勃勃的学习文化，使芝加哥更具整体竞争力，同时也变成了一个在各方面都更加适合生活和工作的地方。
Connect Chicago 致力于帮助所有芝加哥居民获得持续的技能服务，或者进入这个由众多网络接入和培训提供商组成的体系，不论您在这座城市的哪个地方。
Kennedy-King College was established under public pressure during the Great Depression after the city and school board faced with a budget crisis, were forced to shut down Crane Junior College. Continue reading
Earlier this week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the Chicago Broadband Challenge, “a unique initiative that will engage the public to secure Chicago’s position as one of the digital capitals of the country and the city with the greatest availability of ultra-high-speed broadband in the United States.”
The initiative includes a Request For Information that will help drive three main goals:
The City of Chicago is releasing a Request for Information (RFI) today, that seeks to engage private companies, universities, and other organizations to accomplish three main goals: building world-class broadband infrastructure for the city; extending broadband service into underserved areas; and providing free Wi-Fi access in public spaces throughout Chicago.
In driving the building of this infrastructure, the City will first focus on establishing an open, gigabit-speed networks in key innovation areas. The City has identified 15 innovation zones in key commercial and industrial corridors, and will work with the private sector to leverage the existing infrastructure and assets to ensure low-cost broadband is available in these zones with the ultimate goal of extension to all businesses in the City. The City will accomplish this by launching the RFI, and working with private sector service providers to determine best practices and innovative solutions that will allow the low-cost broadband to be developed.
The second goal of the RFI is to expand access to high-speed internet for residents who live in underserved and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Respondents to the RFI will be encouraged to bring solutions forward that will expand access and availability for these communities throughout the city. The City will additionally work with partners like the Smart Chicago Collaborative to develop a comprehensive strategy for digital skills training to ensure that Chicagoans can make the most of broadband access.
Finally, the third element of the RFI will be to implement free Wi-Fi internet service in every public park, plaza or space across the city. The City will start by offering free Wi-Fi in Millennium Park in September, as part of a partnership with SilverIP. This effort will expand to include every public space in the city over the next several years. The RFI will solicit private sector companies, non-profit organizations and other groups that can participate in establishing this connectivity.
Smart Chicago is excited to be a part of this process. We were founded to help address issues of uneven access to the Internet and harness its transformative power to change lives. The amazing work done by our partner LISC Chicago in their Smart Communities program is a powerful demonstration of the value of increasing digital access and use by families, businesses and other institutions. I’ve seen these programs up-close— they are changing lives for the better by teaching youth how to use new media, helping small businesses use technology to grow, and helping neighborhood residents connect to information and services.
Smart Chicago is also working with the Chicago Public Library, Department of Family Support Services, City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Cook Workforce Investment Council, and Chicago Housing Authority to strengthen their existing computer training and pull it into a cohesive program. The lessons we’re learning in the course of our Digital Skills Initiative and Connect Chicago campaign are informing this comprehensive strategy for digital skills training.
I’ve written before about the importance of gigabit-speed connectivity here in Chicago— here’s a primer on the organizations and projects that are working on the Federal level to make that happen. A key point is importance of new ideas for the use of ultra-high-speed broadband— there is currently a lack of solid ideas on what we’d *do* with gigabit speeds.
We need the voices of all Chicagoans to make this initiative work for all of us. The Broadband Challenge website seeks your input on the following key questions:
How the City can best make use of its existing broadband infrastructure and potential uses for future expansion of high-speed broadband access citywide. So let’s fill-in-the blank here:
- “If I had ultra-high-speed broadband at home I could….”
- “If my school/church/community group had blazing fast internet service we could…”
- “If my company had gigabit speed fiber we could…”
To submit your thoughts on how best to address Chicago’s Broadband Challenge, send your answers to these questions to chicagobroadband@cityofchicago.org.
Emanuel said his first goal is to build a network infrastructure that will offer Internet service at “gigabit” speeds, which are about 100 times faster than a basic cable modem. Google built such a network in Kansas City, Mo., that bypassed the local cable and phone companies.
While Google is selling its broadband service to consumers, Emanuel would like to focus the ultra-fast connections in commercial and industrial areas, what he called “innovation zones.”
The mayor also acknowledged that faster Internet service is needed in Chicago’s disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Chicago aims for Internet access in parks, underserved neighborhoods
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/ fspielman@suntimes.com September 24, 2012 10:08AM
Now, Emanuel is launching, what he calls the “Broadband Challenge,” by dividing the city into 15 “innovation zones in key commercial and industrial corridors” and asking private sector partners to suggest ways they can “leverage the [city’s] existing infrastructure and assets” to bring low-cost, high-speed Internet to all businesses in those areas and, ultimately to underserved communities and to every park and public plaza in Chicago.
In the request for information, the city raises the possibility of making a $30 million investment in the city high-speed Internet system.
“To further these goals, the city may offer a variety of supporting assets, including: access to existing city-owned fiber; right-of-way access to [underground] freight tunnels, water mains and sewers; coordination with planned city construction work to modernize the water and sewer infrastructure; up to $30 million in IT [information technology] spending by the city and its sister agencies and other forms of investment,” the document states.
City unveils plan for free Wi-Fi, wider super-fast Internet
Greg Hinz on Politics, September 24, 2012
But those services are lacking in surrounding neighborhoods such as the Randolph Market area in the West Loop, where startup companies can find cheap rents. And even rudimentary, home-based links are not affordable in many low-income neighborhoods.
To solve that, Mr. Emanuel is issuing a request for information for companies and groups interested in coming up with potential solutions. As bait, the city said it’s willing to explore how it “can best make use of its existing broadband infrastructure and potential uses for a future expansion.” Once those ideas come in, the city would formally seek partners through a traditional bidding process.
Probably the most promising is the city’s hope to lure providers of gigabit speed out to the neighborhoods, particularly areas that house higher education institutions. Such providers offer service 50 times the speed of a typical home broadband link, and where competition exists at costs of $1,500 a month, half the price in areas without competition.
Chicago mayor targets affordable gigabit broadband, free WiFi throughout city parks
By Zachary Lutz, Endgadget, posted Sep 25th 2012 10:38AM
In addition to the hopes for ultra-fast broadband, Emanuel’s project, dubbed the Chicago Broadband Challenge, also seeks to extend low-cost, high-speed internet to underserved areas of the city and to bring free WiFi access to all public spaces such as parks and plazas. Although mostly a token gesture, mayor Emanuel announced the immediate availability of free WiFi in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The city is currently soliciting plans and proposals of how to approach the ambitious project, and you’re invited to become a bit more familiar with these grand ambitions with the PR and source links below.
