Got a Problem? Census Bureau TOP Summit May Have an App or Tool to Solve It

Two tech companies, Google, LLC and Carto, collaborated with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create an online map using census, and rent and mobile device data that allows local governments to analyze COVID-19 migration patterns across the United States.

Another tech platform, Edquity, partnered with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CDPB) to create a program (using U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Treasury rental assistance data) to help local governments quickly verify rental assistance eligibility, batch process applications, distribute payments and increase efficacy of disbursements over time.

The program uses the Urban Institute’s rental assistance prioritization index to enable housing authorities and rental assistance providers to target their most vulnerable communities first.

These are among 30 tools set to debut at TOP Summit, a free, virtual event the U.S. Census Bureau is hosting Dec. 13-15. All were created as part of The Opportunity Project (TOP), an initiative of the Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL) which brings government, technologists, and communities together to use federal data to solve some of the nation’s greatest challenges.

More than 30 teams that participated in this year’s sprints are set to launch their products and digital solutions at the summit. The teams, led by federal agencies and cities, built products designed to overcome hurdles triggered by the enduring COVID-19 pandemic by:

• Preventing Crisis for Low-Income Renters & Small Landlords (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).
• Improving Minority Businesses’ Access to Capital (Minority Business Development Agency).
• Tackling the Climate Crisis through Climate-Smart Communities (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
• Analyzing Housing and Migration Trends Post-COVID-19 (HUD).
• Analyzing Equity in Federal COVID-19 Spending (Department of Treasury).
• Increasing Content Accessibility for Multilingual Communities (New York City Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer).
• Helping Small Businesses Thrive in a Digital Economy (City of Coral Gables, Florida).

The Census Bureau also hosted a 12-week sprint with university-based artists, designers, data scientists, technologists, community leaders and Census data experts to find ways to present and disseminate Census data in a more equitable way. The goal is to provide wider access to all audiences.

As noted above, Google and Carto partnered with HUD to create an online map using a mix of census data, applied geographic solutions rent data, and Google’s mobile device data. State and local government officials can navigate the map to analyze COVID-19 migration patterns across U.S., gauge the effects of movements, and identify where additional resources are needed.

Users can also see which counties have lost or gained residents, the percentage of county income from rent, and how this data has changed.

In collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau’s College and University sprint, Philander Smith College, a historically Black college, created an online map called Floodware that allows state and local government officials to mitigate flood threats in Florida. This tool incorporates decennial census data and community risk scores to show the vulnerability levels for counties.

This year’s TOP Summit is set to include three days of keynote speeches, lightning talks, interactive sessions, hands-on learning sessions, technology demos, $300,000-plus in prizes from the Open Data for Good Grand Challenge, and more.

Join us for TOP Summit: Open Innovation for All on December 13-15. The virtual event is free and open to the public.

The TOP Summit page provides the event schedule and allows you to build your own agenda and RSVP.

Sign up for emails to learn more about upcoming sprints and other ways to get involved in 2022 and contact the Census Open Innovation Labs with any questions.

Haley Ashcom Miller is COIL’s lead communications strategist.