python

Status:

Concept

Programming languages:

RHoK Global December 2012

Frameworks:

CouchDB

NoSQL

End user environments:

Mobile

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

Images and Video:

CityZen

Summary:

The general problem consist in finding a quick and smart way to report a general problem concerning your town.It’s possible to divide in more different problems: corruption, asbestos, access for people with some disadvantages and trash.

We decided to work on a Web and Mobile (Android, Windows Phone, iOS) application that allows everyone to report architectural barriers issues, vandalism and incivilities around the city.

Here you can find our presentation with also all the URLs of our repositories: https://speakerdeck.com/nicofromspace/cityzen-rhok-global-december-2012-trento-solution-by-the-citydevs-team

What we accomplished during the event:

During the event we accomplished the following parts of our application:

a working Windows Phone 7.5 application that allows a user to submit a report
also an Android application and iOS application with the same features
the most important part is the web application that was developed using different technologies:
- Django
- jQuery
- Underscore.js
- Backbone
- WebSocket

Next steps:

Mine the data collected from the people to provide statistic data to the local authorities e.g. a map of the most critical areas or a graph of the most reported problems.

Code Repository:

https://github.com/nostalgiaz/cityzen

Category:

Status:

RHoK Global December 2012

Programming languages:

Frameworks:

End user environments:

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

Images and Video:

Related Problem(s):

Quick and Smart report for problems in your town

Adolescent health in Kenya - Jipange Web app

Website/App store links:

http://jipange.herokuapp.com

Summary:

To recap the problem, process and solution: How do we make it easier for young people to access and reach reproductive health information and services? This is a current project by the Centre for Study of Adolescence a local NGO in Kenya in 4 districts of western Kenya: Rarieda, Teso, Siaya and Busia to increase the uptake of contraceptive use.Initially the idea was to develop a phone application to communicate family planning and reproductive health messages to young people. But as this application would not work on all types of handsets that the end users have. Therefore, the idea of creating a web app that could be accessed from mobile phones with internet access was devised. The app would be used primarily by peer educators to access IEC material in a more instant and efficient manner. This was created using Django and featured an SMS list message service to send text messages to the young people that the peer educators interact with as well as host manuals and other information, education and communication materials. In addition, a referral service where users could access information about health clinics and support groups in their areas.

Why we are working on this problem:

There are a number of reproductive health issues among young people in western Kenya. These include HIV and AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, and most importantly lack of access and knowledge to reproductive health and family planning services. Also, we thought it was an interesting problem which enabled us to use Django development to create the app.

What we accomplished during the event:

Created a web app, accesible through mobile phones that can be used to send messages to different group lists. This will be useful to the youth groups that serve as support networks to be able to communicate more effectively with their members. The app also serves as a repository of information education and communication materials (IEC) such as the manual for peer educators and a referral feature where contacts and locations of health centres can be accessed.

Developed CMS and messaging system

Traction:

The web app is live, and the functionality can be used (tested the SMS messaging service effectively.) When it is fully up and running, it will be used in the first instance by 30 peer educators in western Kenya as well as staff at the Centre for the Study of Adolescence in Kenya who will be able to reach more than 4000 young people with family planning and reproductive health messages and services.

Mobile phone usage in Kenya is wide and the app will enable the Centre for Study of Adolescence to be able to scale up their programs quicker to other parts of the region and country

Small environmental impact. The web app will reduce the need for large printed educational materials for the peer educators thus reducing printing costs and the amount of paper used.

Next steps:

Adding reply capability to the messaging service
Content addition
Field testing it to confirm functionalities in Kenya

Code Repository:

http://github.com/rhoksoton/jipange

Category:

Status:

Concept

Programming languages:

Frameworks:

django

End user environments:

Adolescent Health in Kenya

Mobile

Server requirements:

Built for Heroku but anything that can support Django

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

Southampton, UK

Images and Video:

Related Problem(s):

SPIF - Sensitive and Private Information Filter

Summary:

SPIF is a Python application that allows a user to scan a file for sensitive and private information. It supports filtering of file formats such as txt, csv, pdf, xlsx, xml, HTML, and PDF. It checks for presence of Social Security Number, Credit Card Number, Bank Account Number, Telephone Number and generates a detailed report on the whereabouts(page #, line #, column #,...) of the sensitive/private information.

Why we are working on this problem:

Because it matters for individuals/organizations to make sure that they filter sensitive and private information before they publicize content.

What we accomplished during the event:

A pretty functional application with almost everything asked on the problem decsription.

Next steps:

Improving the application to be flexible for different formats of word documents. Adding more patterns to detect.

Code Repository:

https://github.com/birhanum/spif.git

Category:

Status:

Programming languages:

RHoK Global December 2012

End user environments:

Desktop

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

Images and Video:

Seeking people with skills in:

Python

Machine Learning

Related Problem(s):

FFilter - tool for screening open data for private/sensitive information before publication

Urban street tree mobile application for Toronto

Website/App store links:

https://github.com/hohenstaufen/ustmat

Code Repository:

https://github.com/hohenstaufen/ustmat

Category:

Status:

Programming languages:

Frameworks:

End user environments:

https://github.com/openmunilabs/ffilter

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

RHoK Global June 2012

Images and Video:

FFilter - tool for screening open data for private/sensitive information before publication

Code Repository:

Category:

Status:

Programming languages:

FFilter - tool for screening open data for private/sensitive information before publication

End user environments:

Desktop

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

Washington, DC, U.S.A.

Images and Video:

Related Problem(s):

Mapping Volunteers

Summary:

Can map volunteers to major intersections in Toronto

Why we are working on this problem:

To allow the Toronto Free-Net connect volunteers who want to help to members who need help.

What we accomplished during the event:

Solution developed and ready for limited deployment.

Next steps:

Improve the current database to include more of the GTA outside Toronto.

Code Repository:

https://github.com/TFN-Mapping/TFN-Mapping

Category:

Status:

Programming languages:

http://rhoksoton.github.com/WaterMe/

End user environments:

Linux

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

Toronto, Canada

Images and Video:

Development of an operational water stress product from satellite imagery

Website/App store links:

Summary:

This solution aims to solve the problem listed http://www.rhok.org/problems/development-operational-water-stress-produc.... It does all of the required parts (producing NDWI product and viewing via maps), and some of the extended ideas (for example, time series plotting of an individual pixel).

Why we are working on this problem:

We thought this problem was particularly important in an era of changing climate. The area affected by droughts, and therefore the number of people affected, is only likely to increase over time.

Currently there are a number of sources of information about drought, but most of these focus entirely on the meteorological events - eg. the amount of precipitation falling in an area. We felt that the state of the vegetation in an area was of more importance - both as it gives a good idea of the real-world impact of the drought, and because of the effect that droughts can have on crops, and therefore on humans.

What we accomplished during the event:

We have made available NDWI data that was previously unavailable, except to remote-sensing specialists, through an easy to use interface.

The work was split into two components:

WaterMeFeeder - This downloads MODIS tiles from the NASA FTP servers, processes them to reproject the data and calculate NDWI, removes clouds and water areas, and then stores the resulting points in a MySQL database. It is written in Python, and uses a number of libraries including GDAL, pyMySQL and NumPy. It is feature complete, well documented with comments, and shouldn't need much more work.

WaterMe - This provides the API and user interface for the data. The API is written in node.js, and provides a number of functions to return data in JSON format. The user-interface uses 'Leaflet' - an open-source mapping library - to overlay data points on OpenStreetMap data.

All software used is open-source, apart from the MODIS Reprojection Tool, which is freely available after registration through NASA.

Progress made since the event:

N/A - We are writing this during the event!

Next steps:

Continue the project - seek funding, and set up automated processing routine on a server to ensure that the latest MODIS data is imported to the database as soon as it is released. Continue to develop the front-end - possibly including tile-based maps and time-series mapping - as well as improving the performance.

We are also hoping to develop interfaces more suited to those in developing countries - for example, providing access to the data via SMS.

Community help:

We will need resources - to store all of the past MODIS data and have space to expand, we would need significant storage space both for HDF files, tiles and databases.

We will also need to validate the data (both for accuracy of location and NDWI data) - this may involve crowdsourcing data - and it may be suitable to involve some other remote-sensing scientists in the project.

Code Repository:

http://rhoksoton.github.com/WaterMe/

Category:

Status:

Programming languages:

Frameworks:

End user environments:

Southampton, United Kingdom

Server requirements:

Large storage space to allow global data with a long time series (back to 2000).

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

Images and Video:

bribe alert

Website/App store links:

http://bribe-alert.org

https://github.com/transparency-international-rhok-5/bribealert-server

https://github.com/transparency-international-rhok-5/bribealert-mobile-new

Summary:

Are you asked to *pay a bribe*? *Stop corruption* and *report it*! You will stay *anonymous*.

We have developed a website with Android mobile application for whistleblowers around the world. This development connects more than 100 National Chapters of Transparency International worldwide to protect the victims of corruption through a global ICT solution which has never happened before. People can record an audio or shoot a video about a specific situation when someone is offering or asking for a bribe. The whistleblower can ask for help if needed or he or she can decide to make this evidence public and share his or her location or just sent it to the local chapter of Transparency International. The whistleblower will stay anonimous but can be contected by experts of the anticorruption organization for further help. The mobile app also contains an interactive game to identify corruption.

The reports appears on a website where not only the evidences but the visualized data of the Global Corruption Barometer is available.

Why we are working on this problem:

Corruption is one of the most important issue around the world and effects everyone. We cannot accept silence and we need to encourage more and more people to stand up and report corruption. The mobile technology gives us the opportunity to reach millions of people and also provide the necessary protection to them so their identity will not be disclosed. The network of Transparency International is a unique platform so we can reach people around the world through their local activists.

However there are several legal aid services operated by TI but they are using separate online reporting systems. So we connected the chapters through this software and were able to found the link between reporting systems and the legal aid service of TI. And this complex framework can make this development a signficiant step in the global fight aganist corruption.

What we accomplished during the event:

We finished the prototype and implemented the most important functionality and peripheral user stories as well.

Next steps:

The protototype will be introduced to the movement of Transparency International at the General Assembly Meeting which will be followed by several other events.TI would like to form a working group out of the developers and make further developments, like ios apps, multilangual platforms etc. TI will consider to launch a specific global campaign to reach more and more people with this tool.

Code Repository:

https://github.com/organizations/transparency-international-rhok-5

Category:

Status:

Programming languages:

Frameworks:

End user environments:

Software Development (Desktop)

Mobile

Server requirements:

python

What RHoK event this project is being submitted for:

Berlin

Images and Video:

Seeking people with skills in:

Sofware Development (Mobile)

Related Problem(s):

Technology against Corruption

How to use mobile technology to support whistleblowers worlwide? (by Transparency International)

I Wish This Was

Summary:

I Wish This Was is a public art project started in New Orleans in November 2010 that invited local residents to tag the many vacant storefronts in their neighborhoods with their ideas & wants for the community.

"What really drew me to Candy Chang's I Wish This Was project is how that really simple little sticker just gets people who don't normally think about how their city is shaped to think about it. To imagine what they would want in that vacant lot, or in that burnt out building. To imagine something different. It's about thinking differently, or being provoked to think differently about the status quo… Just that act is so, so powerful." - Gary Hustwit, director of Urbanized

People who put up stickers are encouraged to email in their photos, and then some of them get put up on the website. But there's currently no way to know about cool ideas that may have been submitted in your city. What would be awesome would a way for people to submit photos of their sticker with geotagged data, so tha they could be displayed on a map, and so people could see what matters most to people in their city, without having to walk past and notice the small stickers.

What we accomplished during the event:

We started out by working on an android app, but then decided there would be more people with Instagram already on their phones that people willing to download a new app just to upload an "I Wish This Was" photo. So we opted to basically just pull photos from Instagram that had been tagged with the #iwishthiswas hashtag to keep it simple.

Next steps:

It would be awesome to be able to have additional features, such as the ability to vote #iwishthiswas ideas up or down, comment on them (original submitted could add additional context to their photos, or even a link to a kickstarter fundraising page or change.org petition, and other people could chime in), social sharing buttons that allow you to "like" or tweet each photo. Another useful feature would be to allow the organizers of the "I Wish This Was" project to hide photos from the feed if they are irelevant. A more elaborate system would included a "Flag this photo" button that would automatically send an email to the project organizers to they can review it.

Code Repository:

https://github.com/fozzle/imagine-your-city

Category:

Status:

Concept

Programming languages:

JavaScript + HTML5

End user environments: