Expertise

If you want to use the Internet to empower people, we can help. We’ve worked with government agencies, research organizations, advocacy groups, and foundations and we would love to work with you.

If you are interested in becoming a client or partner, please contact us.

VIEW: Open Source Software, Open Data and Open Government Strategy, Journalism, Transportation Reform, Video Journalism, Curriculum Development

Open Source Software

With open source software, government agencies become more effective while saving billions of dollars. Open source is simply a better way to develop software, as it leverages a community of users and avoids vendor lock-in.

We build software for forward-thinking civic agencies around the country, using an iterative, agile process, and we nurture the communities around the software. The result is software as public resource: technology that is widely available and that satisfies civic needs.

Products like OpenGeo help government bodies and others organize and analyze their data in powerful new ways. Tools like OpenTripPlanner helps transit agencies help their riders get around. Our goal? An open digital infrastructure that represents a ‘digital government in a box’: a free, flexible tool set that cities around the world can take advantage of as they come online.

Case Study: Better Transit Tools for Portland TriMet

Learn more: What is open source?

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Open Data and Open Government Strategy

When government agencies free their data, they open up a world of innovation. Advocates, companies, developers, and regular citizens can make use of these data to make smart decisions and improve neighborhoods. We believe that technology can transform city functions — such as planning and transportation — and we believe that openness contributes to good government.

All of our projects encourage open data best practices. Open standards help agencies open up their data, so citizens can become informed and act in their best interest. Our Open311 initiative, for example, is laying the groundwork for better coordination along a broad range of municipal services. Public agencies around the world use the OpenGeo Suite to make their geospatial data accessible and useful — whether to other departments or the wider public. And projects like FixCity Bike Racks enable cities to directly engage their residents, making public services smart and responsive.

Case Study: Helping Governments Share Data: Landgate

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Journalism

Jefferson said that information is the currency of democracy, but mainstream journalism is crumbling. Yet there is the potential for detailed, engaging civic coverage to evolve in an online format. Online news can be more immediate and effective than its print predecessors, while also enabling new forms of community building and interaction.

OpenPlans is at the forefront in developing sustainable models for a new generation of journalism. Our work on transportation reform and on urban education issues showcases the potential for online journalism to cover important beats, to empower overlooked constituencies, and to provide healthy scrutiny of our civic leaders:

• Streetsblog has proven a remarkably successful vehicle for reform efforts in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These local blogs have had a tangible impact, helping to build cities that prioritize pedestrians, transit, and bicycles rather than cars.
• Today, Streetsblog’s alliance of advocacy blogs and online community is the connective fiber for a powerful national reform agenda. With the only full-time transportation reporter on Capitol Hill, and with a network of nearly 400 transit, cycling, and smart growth blogs, the Streetsblog Network reaches nearly every transportation wonk in the country.
• GothamSchools is an independent news source about New York City’s public schools. By offering a critical eye on education research and reporting, and by creating a forum for conversation, GothamSchools is helping New Yorkers create better schools.

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Transportation Reform

Transportation policy cuts across every major civic issue. By reforming transportation planning, we can launch a greener economy, address climate change, reduce oil dependence, help people get to work and school, and improve public health and safety.

Our approach is focused but cohesive: use quality journalism to reorient policy in key cities; connect neighborhood, local and national initiatives; position this work as a mainstream environmental movement; and create open and effective partnerships between government agencies and the public.

On one end, Streetsblog, Streetfilms, and Streets Education are putting these issues on the agenda in places across the country. On the other, we build open source software that helps transportation and transit agencies to better respond to public needs.

This work is turning parking lots into plazas and congested highways into bike paths. This livable streets advocacy integrates with the open source participatory planning tools we’ve developed. Together, we are creating more sustainable, connected, and healthy neighborhoods.

Case Studies: Transforming Grand Army Plaza and UncivilServants.

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Video Journalism

Streetfilms uses video to bring the livable streets movement to life. Streetfilms videos spread good ideas, sharing best practices with transportation agencies, advocacy groups, and civic leaders around the world.

These short films are the ideal medium for explaining street design concepts like bike boxes and bus rapid transit. Streetfilms also give a face to issues of health and safety, and to community advocacy efforts around the world.

The secret to Streetfilms success is their dedicated team of advocate-filmmakers, who produce high quality, accessible videos. Clarence, Elizabeth, and Robin have produced more than three hundred Streetfilms, and their videos have had a tangible impact on policies and streetscapes in dozens of cities.

Case Study: Streetfilms and Ciclovia

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Curriculum Development

We develop curriculum and provide training in areas that make cities more livable and data more available:

• Our Streets Education program helps classroom teachers and schools weave pertinent ideas about urban livability and advocacy into their curriculum. This program spreads the curriculum, information, and learning tools that helps students make the changes they want to see in their neighborhoods. Streets Education has built and used curriculum for K-12 classrooms, and the program regularly partners with leading family institutions, such as the New York City Transit Museum and Celebrate Brooklyn.
• Staff at OpenGeo teach regularly at conferences and universities, and develop open course materials used by others around the world. As core developers of the software components they teach, OpenGeo trainers can provide the best possible mix of technical knowledge and practical teaching skills. Training is available in-person at our New York office, at other locations. or online.

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