our approach

To accomplish this, CNK is a technical pioneer, building and re-building an internet based operating system that provides data and analytic tools, including but not limited to mapping, and that relies on a bank of interconnected servers. Since data, collected by CNK or system users, are stored on these servers, our Center is responsible for system security, back-up, daily operations, and ensuring that analyses are produced quickly without relying on complicated desktop software. This internet-based GIS creates a more level playing field for marginalized communities. No longer must local change agents rely on outdated desktop software due to budget limitations, or spend time seeking money for expensive licensing fees. Internet-based GIS can even work through computers that do not have much power, storage or ram. In CNK's next technical phase, low band-width will no longer be an impediment since our Neighborhood Knowledge System are being redesigned to provide an email alternative, delivering image files, tables and attached spreadsheets in response to user queries. Another goal on the horizon is the conversion of our platform to using and supporting free and open source software (FOSS) so that our center cannot only share our information services more broadly, but also our underlying systems. Nearly all of CNK's counterparts act as local information intermediaries, staying within municipal or metropolitan boundaries (e.g. the Urban Institute's National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership). However, CNK remains committed to building systems that cover increasingly larger geographies. The goal is to remain rooted in local practice within Los Angeles, serving in part as a locus for R & D, but to also allow these tools to naturally branch out in ways that cover larger terrain. Neighborhood Knowledge California is the first statewide, internet-based GIS that enabled users to upload and save their own data, and self-identify the geographic shape of communities for analysis. (See http://nkca.ucla.edu ) This system contributed directly to the design and deployment of the FannieMae Foundation's nationwide "Dataplace" information portal. CNK is regularly contacted by universities from around the world, seeking information to model their own information initiatives. Neighborhood Knowledge Systems have been profiled and presented on every continent, including approximately thirty cities, influencing directly and indirectly many local, regional, and national efforts. Recognized twice as a finalist for the Stockholm Challenge Awards for the use of ICTs to promote social equity, CNK was one of fifteen finalists for the Harvard JFK School's Innovation in Government Awards for the last two years. Increasingly, CNK's work is taking its technologies into new international domains, not just as exemplars, but to directly provide information services and software. The following describes how tools built for domestic efforts are being redesigned in response to new requests from partners working internationally.

Los Angeles County area Theme (Senior citizens 65 and over) turned on Asset points (environmental agencies) turned on