Last year, we welcomed two wonderful Junior Associates: Kate Irvin and Giuseppe Romano, students in the Master’s of Social Work program at Fordham University. Over the course of their associateship, they dove headfirst into the world of open data, civic tech, and public interest technology, bringing fresh energy and curiosity to everything they touched. We’d love to share what they’ve accomplished.
Diving into Open Data
We brought back Open Data Journeys with them! Open Data Journeys are interactive virtual sessions where we dive into NYC’s open datasets to uncover insights about our communities and use data to inform civic action. In their Open Data Journey workshop, Kate and Giuseppe guided fellow New Yorkers through the Motor Vehicle Collisions – Crashes dataset, applying their investigative skills to uncover insights from this rich source of city data. Attendees walked away with fresh insights and a newfound awareness of how NYC Open Data can be used to answer their own questions about vehicle collisions!
Kate and Giuseppe walked us through how to access a data dictionary and create data visualizations in the NYC Open Data portal! The tables contain information on datasets related to the Motor Vehicle Collisions – Crashes, while the line chart illustrates historical crashes, including in March of 2020.
I have learned so much about open data, NYC civics, and the myriad of services available to help New Yorkers become more informed, active members of our community…I really enjoyed the opportunity to share our knowledge with others and spark interest in the many uses for open data.
— Kate
Both newcomers to data and mapping, Kate and Giuseppe combined their recently acquired skills and passion for access to social services to create a map of social service sites in North Brooklyn—turning hands-on learning into real-world application. Their map identifies social service sites in the area by the services they offer, their location, and name! See it for yourself below:
As part of their process, they located and mapped each site in detail on OpenStreetMap (the premier wiki map of the world), where it continues to live on as public information that anyone with a free account can access, view, and even export for their own creations!
“My work with different programs such as the [NYC] Open Data platform, QGIS and OpenStreetMap [has] shown me how easy it is to add something of quality into the digital world.”
— Giuseppe
We were privileged to witness Kate and Giuseppe’s journey through a year full of new projects, new friendships, and impressive professional and educational growth. Now, as newly minted public interest technologists, we look forward to their future adventures in the realm of social work and beyond!
