Over the last few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in how technology and data can be used to help people make better decisions. For years, savvy companies have crunched their numbers through expensive and complicated business analytics packages to improve their market position – and, until recently, they were among the only folks who could afford to exploit data in this way. For the average Jane or Joe, using massive amounts of data to make every day decisions was next to impossible. There were barriers of access, technology, connectivity, and ease-of-use.

But things are changing quickly. Very quickly. Just about anyone with basic computer literacy is now able to tap into massive databases to make all sorts of choices, from choosing which car to buy to deciding on the next book to read. As smartphones grow more and more ubiquitous, there is an enormous opportunity to bring the insight and intelligence of data to bear on an incredibly wide array of decisions.

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For almost three years (’07-’10) my work focused on MoveSmart.org, a tool to provide housing seekers a way to find neighborhoods of opportunity and diversity. There is a plethora of research addressing how most Americans make poor housing decisions, clouded by ignorance and prejudice. Our goal was simple: expose the data-based realities of neighborhoods, connect people to housing opportunities, and empower anyone to make a smarter move. Reflecting on the experience, we met with moderate success; a few foundations and organizations gave MoveSmart.org small grants, bloggers said nice things about the project, NetSquared selected us a finalist, and more than 7,000 people used the site to explore neighborhoods.

For better or worse, I made the decision early-on that MoveSmart.org would be a non-profit organization. We went through the entire process of incorporating, establishing 501(c)3 status with the IRS, developing a board of directors, applying for foundation and government grants, conducting fundraising campaigns, etc. It was a mountain of work, but the entire team behind the project thought it was a pre-requisite for funding. We’d had a number of preliminary meetings with foundations and HUD officials, folks were excited about the project, and there was a mountain of research to back us up.

After three years of banging our heads against the wall, MoveSmart.org went largely dormant. I was exhausted and had a kid on the way. The Metro Chicago Information Center (MCIC) had offered me a fulltime job that was almost too good to be true. When I learned that we didn’t receive a large HUD grant because I neglected to explain why I set our travel per diem at $40/day instead of the regular $60/day, it felt like a sign that it was time to move on.

Just a few weeks before we got the news from HUD, I saw a demo of the Food Genome at the amazing NPDev Summit in Oakland. I spent the plane ride home sketching and brainstorming and, a few days later, emailed Eric to start noodling on ideas together.

While each American generation is more mobile than the prior one, most of us will only move a handful of times in our lives. But food is an entirely different story; most Americans eat out more than a few time every week (or for most of their meals, depending on location). Eric and I started wondering what would happen if we could apply the same approach to food that MoveSmart.org took with neighborhoods…

After a few months of tossing ideas back and forth, we came up with the core concept in April 2010. What if we could make individual dish suggestions not based on the social graph or unreliable website reviews, but on their actual ingredients and the user’s tastebuds? Food Genius was born.

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Until we started working on our Excelerate Labs application, Food Genius was a hobby. In my wildest dreams, I thought that maybe one day, far in the future, we might get lucky and it could turn into a job. But the Excelerate process compels you to think deeply about your endeavor; a question on the initial application asks who is going to go fulltime and when. With a 10-month old daughter at home and a stable job that I loved, making the leap to becoming an entrepreneur should have been scary as hell. Throw in that I’ve been in the non-profit sector for more than a decade, and some might say I need to have my head examined.

There are still two weeks before we start the program, but I already know that jumping head-first into entrepreneurship through Excelerate Labs is one of the best decisions that I’ve made. Food Genius has been able to marshall more resources and funding in three months than I was able to assemble after nearly three years in the non-profit sector for an analogous project.

It’s time to do more, faster.

Open Gov. Discussion at Obtiva Geekfest from Obtiva on Vimeo.

Web and Database Programmer

MCIC (Metro Chicago Information Center) is a non-profit corporation that provides research and information services(surveys, maps, data analysis, focus group) to those concerned with public policy issues, community needs, and quality of life. Our products include both specific deliverables for client-based projects, including visuals and text (maps, graphs, tables, charts, written text, slide presentations, etc.) and “free” data products disseminated primarily through the web.

DESCRIPTION: The Web and Database Programmer is responsible for providing technical services as a member of proposal and project development teams for internal and external projects. S/he takes lead responsibility for implementing website and web survey projects, and for programming in areas including database development and management, custom data entry programs, etc. Updates and maintains MCIC website. Performs data processing and data analysis in a project team environment.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Participating in proposal development and project deliverable teams;
• Implementing website and web custom survey projects for non-profit and corporate clients
• Participating in project teams in areas of secondary research, database programming, statistical analysis(SPSS), and presentation graphics
• Maintaining MCIC GIS-based websites and Intranet
• Maintaining clients’ websites
• Assisting in web server administration
• Developing integrated databases from multiple sources
• Other duties as assigned

Specific Skills:

• Proficient in .NET programming (ASP.NET, C#, HTML, XML, JavaScript, VBA, and Visual Studio.NET) in Windows and web applications
• Experience with SQL Server programming
• Experience with PHP programming
• Working knowledge of other relational database programs (FoxPro and Access)
• Experience with statistical SPSS and spreadsheet software packages
• Experience with IIS web hosting
• Knowledge of GIS Software: ArcGIS 9.2 and Geocoder
• Knowledge of US Census geographic and demographic data
• Techniques for explaining technical concepts and procedures to non-technical users

Status:

This position is a half time position that will grow into a full time position. The position is salaried, and exempt from the overtime provisions of salary and wage administration. Reports to Director of Information Services.

Qualifications:

BA/BS or equivalent in geography or computer science or commensurate experience; excellent web, database, and desktop application programming skills; good communication skills; strong positive interpersonal and team skills; reliable follow-through habits to function in a deadline-driven team environment; GIS experience a big plus.

We know this is a big list of skills; while the ideal person will have all of them in their toolbox we’re also interested in hearing from people with some of them and an interest / excitement for learning the rest. MCIC is an awesome place to work; you’ll have a challenging and fast-paced workload and get to work with an amazing group of very, very smart people. To boot, in our office culture there’s a huge emphasis on learning new skills and innovating new approaches to data preparation and manipulation.

Send resumes and links to your work to jmassa@mcic.org.

There are tons of APIs that will return the zip code, neighborhood, city, county, or state of a lat/long or address, but none that also offer police beats, police areas, wards, community areas, census tracts, census block group, and PUMS areas as well. These geographies are at the core of many MCIC data sets, and such a service would not only be useful in and of itself but at the heart of the still-in-the-works data service.

What has excited me the most about working with MCIC is the care and feeding provided to the data they work with. After they’re done, it’s not uncommon to see a 7-8% improvement in geocoding success. These are the folks who meticulously clean the boundaries of every arcane geography, ensuring that the each side of a street is in its proper place and overlaps/gaps are removed. And they’re excited to see what you will do with it.

Your thoughts and comments on the details are welcome:

-What formats to you want to see?
-What additional information should we provide?
-How can we design the API and write documentation to make your lives as developers easier?
-What kinds of data should we prioritize next? (vote here)

We’ll be testing this API soon; if you’re interested in early access please let us know in the comments.

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more on PUMS areas

But MCIC knows that without access to quality data and technical assistance to understand what the data can and can’t ‘say’, the dangers Lessig has pointed out will limit the impact of this emerging field. Developers should be free to focus on building rich, engaging, and useful applications rather than poring over non-standard metadata or trying to match seasonally with non-seasonally adjusted data sets.

MCIC is uniquely situated to provide both data and technical assistance for many of these applications; from their boilerplate description:

Metro Chicago Information Center (MCIC) is an independent, non-profit organization that provides the highest quality data collection, analysis and consultation to institutions dedicated to investing in communities and enriching lives. Though MCIC does not advocate specific public policies or policy choices, we strive to provide critical information and insight necessary to support human services, cultural programs and overall economic growth. MCIC was founded in 1990 by a consortium of regional business and philanthropic leaders at the Commercial Club of Chicago. MCIC works from a fundamental philosophy that better information produces better decisions.

As a self-described ‘legacy organization’, MCIC has a great deal of work to do in order to start sharing their data library. Figuring out the various licensing requirements based on their sources, standardizing all of the metadata, and building and creating documentation for an API will take a while. There’s also the matter of figuring out how to pay for this new and as of yet unfunded program (suggestions welcome).

MCIC is actively seeking your feedback on what to share, how to share it, and how to provide technical assistance. Below is a list of the data keywords from their catalog – please vote for which you think should be shared first.

Additionally, please leave a comment about how you think the mechanics of this sharing should work; as a developer of public purpose applications, what would make your life easier? How should we provide technical assistance on using this data? Finally, if you have a specific data set you’ve been searching for, drop us a line. If we have it and can, we’ll be happy to share.