Local Activity Stream Tracker

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Local Activity Stream Tracker

Japan
Organization type: 
for profit
Budget: 
$50,000 - $100,000
Website:
http://www.georepublic.co.jp/
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

We combine information from the Internet and activities held in real-life to enrich and improve communities

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Local Activity Stream Tracker visualizes problems in Local Authorities and encourages local residents to get more involved in local development. By doing so, the following benefits are provided. ・Residents: Various local activities are visualized making it easy to support, participate and get a deeper understanding of Local Authorities/activities and at the same time, opinions can be expressed and exchanged regarding how local authorities and other organizations should allocate their budgets and resources. ・Local Authorities: Using a dashboard function that provides an overview of the local status of communities, current activities and the priority of improvement requests by residents can be monitored, allowing optimum allocation of resource. ・Local Community Managers: Information of local activities can be delivered to residents and feedback on such information can be received.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Local Activity Stream Tracker aims to rearrange social media and direct posts/contributions by using local activity in order to visualize the status of local communities and to be able to ultimately allocate local activity-related resources in an optimum manner. By gathering information from Facebook, Twitter and other social media along with information from local sources, local activity can be visualized clearly. In addition, local residents can report any local findings, issues or suggestions to improve the community. Moreover, local events can be organized and participants can be recruited. The ranking/priority of activities is based on user votes. Local activities are ranked according to residents. By doing so, local authorities can learn and evaluate what needs to be done to improve the community. Also, companies can support certain activities of residents as needed.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

By automatically gathering information from social media, existing web sites and other sources, and then creating a web site that displays the related streams, it is possible to rearrange the collected information in the form of a community. Also, by creating a system that allows issues to be reported and ideas to be suggested in a simple manner, community improvements can be efficiently gathered. In addition, by implementing a ranking system that uses points, thereby providing a game-feel to users, residents are more likely to participate in local activities. Using not just a voting system, but by also planning local events and encouraging participation in local activities, online activities can be used to link offline (real-life) activities. This platform is open source and it allows third-parties to provide various kinds of information.
Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

In Japan, some local communities already have their own a social media in place. Local Activity Stream Tracker does not aim to replace a pre-existing SNS but instead rearranges more information so it can be used together with another SNS. As it also serves as a tool to gather issues/problems in local communities, services such as SeeClickFix are our competitors. There are no similar services in Japan at the moment, but from a global perspective competition exists. SeeClickFix specializes in reporting neighborhood issues but our platform covers a wider range of local activities and facilitates local communication.
About You
Organization:
Georepbulic Japan
About You
First Name

Haruyuki

Last Name

Seki

Twitter URL

http://twitter.com/hal_sk

Facebook URL

http://facebook.com/halsk

About Your Organization
Organization Name

Georepbulic Japan

Organization Country
Country where this project is creating social impact
How long has your organization been operating?

Please select

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Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Idea (you're poised to launch)

How long have you been in operation?

Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon

Social Impact
FOUNDING STORY: We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.

After a year and a few months after my child was born, I felt it was more important to connect and reach out to my neighborhood and local community. I searched the Internet and found it hard to find any information and it was also not clear how I could contribute to my community.
Around the time I decided to start sinsai.info, a web site that gathered information concerning the earthquake that occurred on 2011/3/11, and used the open source platform Ushahidi. While operating the web site, I learned first-hand how powerful gathering information from the cloud was, and the importance of visualizing local information. Based on this experience, the platform and vision for Georepbulic was born.

Specify both the depth and scale of your solution’s social impact to date
What is your projected impact within the next 1-5 years? Is your idea replicable? If so, how?

Assuming that the system functions well during the time, more residents will be able to indirectly and directly contribute/participate in activities to improve their communities. This will influence local authorities in how they allocate their budget and priorities, leading to resources to be optimally allocated.
The system is scheduled to be provided as an open source platform, making it possible for it to be used as a service in a different country.
Partners can gather information using the system and can optionally engage in business with local authorities and companies.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and mark growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

First, we will pick up a number of local authorities and neighborhood associations to which we will provide a prototype of our s

Six-Month Tasks
Task 1

Develop a prototype system that can be used for concept tests

Task 2

Select local authorities and neighborhood associations for test purposes and start the test phase

Task 3

Create expansion plan according to test results

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Launch a site that will replace the prototype and can be used when the service goes live. Acquire funds/financing to expand the

12-Month Tasks
Task 1

Develop software to be used when the service goes live

Task 2

Prioritize software to be developed according to the concept test

Task 3

Raise funds for infrastructure and other operating expenses

How many people have been impacted by your project?

101 - 1,000

How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?

More than 10,000

Sustainability
Explain how your company, program, service or product is structured

Business

What barriers have hindered the success of your project to date? How do you plan to overcome these and other challenges as you grow your solution?

This project is still in its early stages. My previous project sinsai.info received a lot of attention on TV and newspapers. sinsai.info was a completely non-profit project and the biggest issue I had with it was resource allocation. A lot of user requests could not be met and to counter such, I used online communication tools (Google Docs、Yammer、Skype、Lingr) to efficiently operate the web site.

How do you see the information-technology and media sectors shifting over the next decade? How will your solution adapt to and/or drive that changing environment?

I believe mobile phones, geographical information and cloud-based innovations will become even more prominent. People will use mobile devices like sensors where various information can be entered. Also, as sinsai.info did, people will collaborate and share information to work out issues, and that will be the norm. By working out I/O interfaces and communities, I look forward to creating a system that can solve problems in the real world.

Failure is not always an option. If your solution fails to gain traction in the next two years, what other applications of the idea could you explore?

We will look to apply the service to not only social organizations and issues, but also to businesses. Reporting systems with geographical information are useful in corporations and social media analysis can be used in marketing activities of companies.

Expand on your selections, explaining how you will sustain funding

After the prototype phase completes, we will collect a service charge from local authorities. In addition, we will provide a marketing analysis tool / "Location media dashboard" which will be subject to fees.

Tell us about your partnerships
What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section?

Georepublic Japan is a part of the FOSS4G (Free and OpenSource Software for Geospatial) community and we have made a number of presentations at international conferences.
Our employees are members of OpenStreetMap Foundation Japan and we have deep insight in geographical information systems and related software.

Changemakers is a collaborative and supportive space. Please specify any community resources you would need to grow and sustain your initiative. Select all that apply

Investment, Human resources or talent, Marketing or media, Collaboration or networking, Pro-bono help (legal, financial, etc.).

Specify any resources you might offer to support other initiatives. Select all that apply

Human resources or talent, Collaboration or networking, Innovation or ideas.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren’t specified within the list

We have a lot of know-how and understanding on geographical information systems and related technology. We can develop such systems, provide consulting, support and other services.
We also have a lot of beneficial business relationships (domestic and international) concerning IT support for the earthquake disaster.

Summary
Define your company, program, service or product in 1-2 short sentences

We are a platform that gathers information and allows local residents to engage in activities to improve their communities.