With the right tools, neighbors, advocacy groups and citizen journalists can do more.
TOPP makes web-based tools that empower civil society. We build software and produce new media outlets, helping people get involved in civic life.
Each project has a clear goal in mind, but the software is all open source, so anyone can adapt and use it for their cause.
CoActivate is community network and toolbox for social change. Features include groups, blogs, wikis, mailing lists, and file storage. It is powered by OpenCore software. This software runs sites like the European Social Forum and LivableStreets.com.
Community Almanac is a tool for capturing the heart and soul of a community through collaborative storytelling. A partnership with the Orton Family Foundation, the Community Almanac will be rolled out in several small towns across the US during the summer and fall of 2009.
GothamSchools is a news source and online community for teachers, parents, policy makers, and journalists interested in learning about what works and what doesn’t in NYC schools. By offering a critical eye on education research and reporting, and by creating a forum for conversation, Gotham Schools is helping New Yorkers create better schools. Over the past year, Gotham Schools has broken numerous stories while earning its reputation as a stellar niche news provider.
Open311 is a community effort to create a standard specification to turn 311 systems into an open platform. 311 systems enable citizens to access a broad range of municipal services, and an open, interoperable platform would help more cities adopt first-class 311 systems, and it would enable citizens and cities to work together to solve problems.
OpenGeo makes geospatial information more open: available, accessible, and useful on compelling platforms. This team builds open source geospatial applications for clients around the world. OpenGeo's business model is aligned with its social mission: our software competes in the market expanding access to geospatial tools and data.
Launched in January 2009, Streetsblog San Francisco covers transportation and urban sustainability news across the Bay Area.
The Streetsblog Network connects local, grassroots transportation reform advocates with one another and with the inside-the-Beltway national campaign. With nearly 400 quality blogs on sustainable transport, smart growth, and livable streets issues, the network reaches hundreds of thousands of readers each week.
Streetswiki is a community-created encyclopedia of transportation. Using Streetswiki, advocates can compare the world's best bike-sharing programs or describe traffic calming measures in their neighborhoods.
TOPP Labs is the TOPP division that works on civic technology initiatives. This group produces the technology that powers the Livable Streets Initiative, Community Almanac, and Gotham Schools.
This website invites people around the New York to post photos that document rampant abuse of city parking placards. The site and related coverage of the problem resulted in broad reforms. Learn how in the Parking Reform case study.