Análisis descriptivo de la base de datos

Today, information about community resources (i.e. the health, human, and social services available to people in need) is scattered across a fragmented landscape of siloed information systems. If the many different kinds of

‘community resource databases’ could recognize a common language — and if they could openly share their resource data through interoperable

technologies — then directory information could be published once and accessed in many ways (through channels such as call centers, web engines like Google and Yelp, mobile apps, etc). Social entrepreneurs, non-profits, governments and funders could each add value to community resource data without restricting access to it. This would transform our collective abilities to ensure that people can live healthy and dignified lives.

A Landscape Of Siloed Directories

It’s hard to see the safety net. Which agencies provide what services to whom? Where and how can people access them? These details are always in flux. Non- profit and government agencies are often under-resourced and overwhelmed, and it may not be a priority for them to push information out to attract more customers.

So there are many ‘referral providers’ — such as call centers, resource

directories, web applications, etc — that collect directory information about health, human, and social services. New apps emerge all the time, increasingly offered by for-profit startups. Yet these directories are still all managed in

redundant and incompatible silos, locked in competition with each other (whether by default or design), where they each struggle to stay up-to-date. As a result of this costly and ineffective status quo:

• People in need have difficulty discovering and accessing services that

can help them live better lives.

• Service providers struggle to connect clients with other services that can

help them meet complex needs.

• Decision-makers are unable to gauge the effectiveness of programs at

improving community health.

• Innovators are stymied by lack of access to data that could power

valuable tools for any of the above.

A cascade of benefits from interoperable, open resource data

As institutions adopt open standards and interoperable platforms, we expect that:

• Higher quality resource data can be produced at lower cost than siloed

status quo;

• Innovative technologies can proliferate, and become easier to re-deploy

and adapt;

• People can more easily find services, and service providers can more

readily meet complex needs;

• Researchers, policy-makers and funders can better understand public

health and community needs;

• All of this can yield healthier people and more resilient communities.

An Emerging Movement Towards Open Data And Interoperable Systems In collaboration with Code for America, Google.org, the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems and others, Open Referral has just made this possible.126 We’ve developed a data exchange format that establishes interoperability among conventional systems, emerging applications, and the Web itself.127 In Open Referral’s pilot projects, lead stakeholders — government champions, referral providers, community anchor institutions, etc — are collaborating to establish open interoperable resource data infrastructure, testing hypotheses with implementations intended to yield tangible value to service providers and

126 _{http://openreferral.org}

people in need. Through these pilots, stakeholders are evaluating the viability and sustainability of various models for open resource data ecosystems. For example:

• The Boston Children’s Hospital has transformed its HelpSteps website into

an open platform, and has built an open source mobile app that can be freely re-deployed. https://openreferral.org/helpsteps-introduces-new- open-source-mobile-app/

• MediaLab Prado in Madrid has repurposed open data published by the

municipal government into a mobile-friendly resource locator tool. https://openreferral.org/huertas-de-datos-open-referral-in-madrid/

• The Digital Humanitarian Network has developed a simple spreadsheet for

sharing information about disaster relief resources across various actors including PeaceGeeks, StandbyTaskForce, and the UN Office of

Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. https://openreferral.org/introducing- the-humanitarian-service-data-model/

• Purple Binder, a for-profit company in Chicago, is openly publishing its

resource directory data to an emerging ecosystem of third-party applications. http://bit.ly/2acjT5S

Policy Recommendations for government and funding institutions:

• Institutions should publish granular, machine-readable, openly-licensed

data about the health, human, social services that they provide and/or fund. Such institutions can also set policies that require any grantees and contractors who aggregate such information to republish it in open

interoperable formats

• Convene stakeholders across sectors. Many sectors stand to benefit from

open, interoperable resource directory data. Yet the market will likely fail to generate such solutions without intervention. Governments and funders can create space for collaboration and deliberation by convening key stakeholders around the shared purpose of promoting access to

information about services.

• Allocate resources for research and development. Many questions have

yet to be answered: how can communities best participate in ensuring the accuracy of resource data published by governments, funders, and

third parties? What feedback loops will be effective? What institutional forms are sustainable (i.e. data cooperatives)? How should the Open Referral format itself evolve to meet diverse needs? Answering these questions takes time, many sources of input, and skills such as facilitation and data science. Market-driven actors will likely allocate such resources only for the purpose of enclosure. Governments and funders can ensure this challenge is addressed through transparent, participatory processes.

The Unseen City: Commons Oriented