Projects
Projects and partnerships driving a more connected, innovative Kansas City.
Local Government Reporter
Code for KC is supporting the design and development of a website that puts links to city council meetings and other local government business in one place, creating an easy resource designed for reporters and local media outlets who cover local government, in order to make their jobs easier and keep the public better informed.
Digital Contact Tracing
Contact tracing is critical to containing the spread of coronavirus. Manual contact tracing is a high-touch process managed by public health officials. As the number of confirmed cases in a community rise and sick patients requires more attention, preventative efforts like contact tracing become deprioritized in favor of direct treatment.
COVID-19 Symptom Self-Reporting
In the absence of widely available Covid-19 testing, region-wide KC metro efforts are underway to encourage self-reporting of symptoms and coordinate medical volunteer follow up with symptomatic patients.
Health Innovation Team
When people talk about how emerging technologies might have substantive impact on quality of life, health care is always at the forefront of the conversation. The use of telemedicine to expand access to expertise and services, the explosion of personal data and the quantified self to offer more precise care, the opportunities for massive data integration and analysis to improve system efficiency—all offer tremendous potential.
Tagging Tracker
The CRT Graffiti Abatement Pilot Project is a proactive approach to removing graffiti along the Prospect Avenue corridor of Kansas City. The Tagging Tracker Tool will provide the infrastructure to track the occurrence of graffiti and its abatement.
MetroLab Network
The MetroLab Network is a consortium of city-university partnerships across the US that fosters collaboration between local governments and academic researchers and practitioners. Faculty and students get access to real-life laboratories to test advanced approaches aimed at addressing city priorities and challenges.
Streetlights Data
Smart streetlights are at the front lines of the smart city; the switch from traditional high pressure sodium street lights to LEDs is a proven cost saver for cities that can help to finance smart infrastructure. And during this switch the new light poles become part of the Internet of Things: valuable real estate for hanging cameras, sensors, wireless antennas and more.
Smart Gigabit Communities
On a foundation enabled by the Smart Gigabit Communities grant, we’re in the second year of a three-year program that’s built around two goals: building at least two gigabit apps per year, and establishing a Digital Town Square that connects next-generation network resources within the metro area to keep gigabit traffic local and between other gigabit communities.
US Ignite
US Ignite is a national, independent non-profit organization with a mission to build transformative, impactful applications that require gigabit fiber networks and similar next-generation infrastructure and to create test bed communities in which to incubate these applications. KC Digital Drive has led the Kansas City metro area’s participation and engagement with US Ignite since both organizations began in 2011-2012.
Digital Week / 1 Week KC
KC Digital Drive, the KC Coalition for Digital Inclusion (KCCDI), and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) have coordinated to host three complementary events focused on the digital future of cities. Digital Week will bring delegates and attendees from around the country for a focused week of learning and connecting in Kansas City. There are a mix of free and paid events with a variety of topics and target audiences, and we’ve included a number of opportunities for Kansas Citians to interact with our out-of-town attendees, to participate in Kansas City’s leadership role in these critical conversations.