Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Bellevue uses AI technology to identify problem intersections and make them safer

    August 07, 2020 |

    The Seattle Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Bellevue, Washington

    Artificial intelligence and traffic cameras are being used to identify dangerous intersections in Bellevue, Washington. Data from thousands of hours of footage revealed that intersections where drivers, bikers and pedestrians had near misses were the most problematic spots in need of improvement. Leveraging traffic data allowed the city to pinpoint potentially dangerous situations relatively quickly and implement the changes that are needed to secure those intersections.

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  • In San Diego, ‘Smart' Streetlights Spark Surveillance Reform

    August 06, 2020 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

    A smart-streetlight program has helped businesses and residents by collecting a wealth of data to make parking easier, monitor air quality, and inform drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists of traffic patterns. But its use by the police to collect evidence of suspected crimes has prompted a privacy backlash. Police officials say the videos have been used only in serious crimes and have both incriminated and exonerated suspects. Critics say mission creep has led to improper surveillance of protests and racially disparate enforcement in minor crimes. City legislators are considering ways to regulate the practice.

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  • Surveillance Planes Watch Over Baltimore, But Catch Few Criminals

    August 05, 2020 |

    Baltimore Magazine |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

    In the first half of a six-month experiment, Baltimore's "wide-area surveillance" using video cameras flying above city streets to aid in crime investigations has led to only one arrest. The city's police commissioner doubts the city will agree to pay for the surveillance once private funding for the pilot project runs out, but he says he'll know more after the six-month experiment. The experiment is aimed at Baltimore's high rates of gun violence. Besides its effectiveness, critics worry about its privacy implications and that it targets mostly Black neighborhoods.

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  • Prison Voicemail: Messages from behind bars

    August 04, 2020 |

    BBC |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: England

    Prison Voicemail is a smartphone app that lets incarcerated people in the UK stay connected to their families, improving their mental outlook while imprisoned and their chances of success once they're released. The fee-based app closes gaps left by ordinary pay phones and other means of communication by letting people communicate through recorded messages, rather than when they both happen to be available. Sound clips of families talking in this podcast drive home the profound personal impact of children and parents sharing the routine news of their lives across the barrier of prison walls.

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  • How Europe's Greenest Capital Is Saving City Trees

    August 03, 2020 |

    Next City |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Germany, Berlin

    Cities around the world are using apps and interactive platforms to encourage resident volunteers to care for their urban forests. For example, in Berlin, Gieß den Kiez (Water the Neighborhood) is an app that allows users to watch their local trees and water them in times of need. When the app launched, there were 1,000 unique users and over 7,000 individual tree waterings in the first six weeks. However, the cost of planting and maintaining trees can be expensive and where the trees are located in cities and who benefits from them is not always equitable.

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  • The ‘solar canals' making smart use of India's space

    August 03, 2020 |

    BBC |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: India, Gujarat

    Covering canals with solar panels has allowed Indian communities to save land, water and carbon emissions, and even bring electricity to rural villages. The solar panels are suspended on metal structures over the canal, which can generate electricity for farmers and be fed into the state grid or sold to public utilities. While these canal-top solar power plants can be expensive to build, so far, eight Indian states have commissioned canal solar projects.

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  • How to save a life: Easing grief from inside COVID ICUs

    August 03, 2020 |

    Bhekisisa |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: South Africa, Cape Town

    To combat the grief, trauma, and frustration caused by COVID-19 hospitalizations where families are cut off from loved ones and from most information about their care and condition, the staff at Vincent Pallotti Hospital created a new way of capturing doctors' updates on patients that improved the flow of information. Instead of recording their observations and treatments on paper charts, doctors enter the information on an online system. Volunteer counselors with access to that information then update families daily, relieving some stress and bringing solace to families and patients alike.

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  • How Hawaii's New Voting System Could Help Disabled Voters

    August 03, 2020 |

    Honolulu Civil Beat |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Hawaii

    Voters with disabilities in Hawaii have more options for voting than in most other states. Electronic ballots in particular, which can be paired with assistive technology, allow voters more freedom and independence. Any voter with a disability can request a ballot be emailed to them as an HTML file. Voters must sign a privacy waiver and ballots have to be printed and signed. Hawaii is one of the few states that allows voters to scan their signed ballots and return them by email, as well as by mail or dropped in an official ballot box. More voter outreach is needed to make people aware of this option.

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  • Some hospitals are tracking Covid-19 by adding sensors to employees' badges

    August 02, 2020 |

    CNBC |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Illinois

    SwipeSense is a monitoring technology adapted to track people’s movements as a form of contact tracing for Covid-19 in hospitals. Staff wear the device while at work, which uses sensors and location beacons to track movements, and when a positive Covid-19 test arises the hospital can quickly identify and quarantine those exposed to limit further spread. After adopting the device, and combined with other sanitation strategies, an Illinois hospital's staff infection rate dropped from 17% in March to less than 1% in June. Some have expressed privacy and security concerns with monitoring people’s movements.

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  • Building Trees in the Metaverse Might Actually Save the Forest

    August 02, 2020 |

    Freethink |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Southern Pines, North Carolina

    By building scientifically accurate virtual tress, NatureXR is providing an opportunity for scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders to use virtual reality to understand ecosystems and model conservation impacts. Creating an authentic 3D-version of a tree can be challenging, but by developing a “procedural” tree, the software can generate a forest of trees that are unique, accurate, and realistic. VR nature can also make the environment accessible for people who might not be able to experience it due to disabilities, distance, or even fear.

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