This project reflects an ongoing collaboration commenced in 2022 between a nonprofit organization and a university. The collaboration is focused on innovative technologies to enhance neighborhood revitalization and community self-reliance. Through this collaboration we are developing and evaluating a community-based infrastructure that combines artificial intelligence (AI) technology, facilitated by a smartphone app, with community engagement through direct engagement of residents and a community advisory board. Big data is often aggregated at a scale that masks or dilutes the significance of more refined data at the neighborhood level. This often results in data analysis and decisions that do not reflect the needs, wants, and desires of citizens at the neighborhood level. This project is informed by the perspective that AI projects must be authentically and meaningfully grounded in the lived experience of those who are meant to benefit from the innovation. Further, this project is about enhancing ordinary citizens' data collection and data analytics skills. We aim to connect citizens in the community with a data and applications ecosystem, especially to encourage residents to evaluate service delivery mechanisms and service gaps. Residents, without requiring expertise in statistics and computer programming, will be able to create, share, and take advantage of urban data science applications for their neighborhood through an app developed for mobile devices. Community residents become co-innovators in this process and are driven by community priorities. The project will culminate in a digital platform that will be transferred from to the nonprofit for continued use. Organizations that promote social change are well situated to support citizen-driven data collection and analysis and are natural partners in promoting the democratization of data.
