Category: Blog
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2015 in Review: the building blocks of an open ecosystem
A world in which information about community resources is easy for anyone to find, trust, and effectively use — in whatever way works best for them. This is Open Referral’s hopeful vision of the future. In 2015, we saw the first glimmers of such a world. Let’s take a look: Continue reading →
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2015 In Review: Much Progress and Many Thanks
As we wrap up 2015, I’ve taken a moment to review our progress over the course of the year. It’s been a long journey with lots of moving pieces, and I’m so inspired by the many people who are playing roles of all kinds in this collective effort to reimagine a safety net for the…
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Data for Good Exchange: a new paper with an old concept
In late September I had the privilege to discuss our work at the Data for Good Exchange, a symposium hosted by Bloomberg. As part of the event, I presented a paper which you can read here. Much of the paper recaps the thinking and work behind the Open Referral initiative to date…. Then, taking into…
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Introducing Link-SF to the Open Referral ecosystem
[Welcome to Rose Trujillo of Zendesk! This is cross-posted from Zendesk’s Zengineering Blog.] We’re happy to announce that Link-SF will be a part of Open Referral’s San Francisco pilot project! What is Link-SF? St. Anthony’s Tenderloin Technology Lab serves many low-income San Francisco residents that are looking for web access. Continue reading →
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Data-driven justice in D.C.
Access to clear, reliable, re-usable community resource directory data is not just important for people who are seeking services that meet their immediate needs — it’s also crucial for people who are seeking to understand the workings of the human service system as a whole, as they seek ways improve health and wellness for entire…
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San Francisco’s Open Referral: Getting out and Staying out
Every other year, the Reentry Council of San Francisco publishes Getting Out and Staying Out, a resource guide for people returning from prison and looking for help to get back on their feet. The Guide is more than 300 pages long, containing rich information about hundreds of health, human, and social services that are available…
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New Partnerships up North: Open Referral in Canada
[UPDATE: The Ontario Non-Profit Network has posted its ‘Data Strategy,’ which specifically references the emerging partnerships described below. Check it out!] Canada is an international leader in the field of open data, especially in the non-profit sector. The Canadian Revenue Agency was the first government entity of its kind to publish open, machine-readable data about…
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Huertas de Datos: Open Referral in Madrid
Early last month, I traveled to Madrid to discuss the community resource directory data problem, and our work here in the Open Referral initiative, at the commencement of a civic hacking workshop hosted by Medialab-Prado. Medialab-Prado is a publicly-funded “citizen laboratory for the production, research and dissemination of cultural projects that explore collaborative forms of…
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Helping HelpSteps Step Forward
Conceived and built by a team at Boston Children’s Hospital, HelpSteps.com (formerly known as The Online Advocate) is designed to help individuals and families identify social service needs and connect to local organizations best suited to meet those needs. The database includes over 1,700 organizations in the greater Boston area, and is maintained through partnership…