Accelerating Artificial Intelligence Adoption in the Nonprofit Sector
IBM is a leading technology company that provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. In 2016, the IBM Research arm launched the Science for Social Good initiative, with the mission of using data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tackle emerging social and environmental issues. IBM tasked the team with investigating ways to scale the adoption of AI tools in the nonprofit sector. The team reviewed the literature on AI and its relationship to the nonprofit sector, interviewed nonprofits and foundations to understand the field’s current landscape and trajectory, and evaluated the nonprofit sector in terms of its receptiveness, preparedness, and need for new technologies. The team then provided IBM with strategic recommendations for how best to pursue its goal of scaling AI in the nonprofit landscape.
INTERACTIVE DATA TOOLS FOR CRAFTING TENURE-BASED HOUSING POLICIES IN NYC
Citizens Housing and Planning Council (CHPC) works to develop and advance practical public policies to support New York City’s housing stock by better understanding the city’s most pressing housing and neighborhood needs. CHPC’s ongoing initiative, A New Lens for NYC's Housing Plan, aims to widen the conversation around the city’s next housing plan and develop new metrics for policymakers. CHPC enlisted the team to expand this initiative by exploring NYC housing policy through the lens of the city’s housing stock broken down by tenure: rent stabilized rental, market rate rental, public housing, and owner-occupied units. Using public data, the team created interactive data tools to explore housing tenure overlaid with key demographics and other housing indicators. The team then used these tools to synthesize neighborhood-specific policy recommendations that meet the needs of the residents based on tenure and demographic composition.
DESIGNING A VALUE-BASED PROPOSITION PROPOSAL
The Institute for Community Living (ICL) is a New York-based nonprofit human services organization that provides integrated trauma-oriented, recovery-oriented, and person-centered care. In its continual effort to improve patient health, ICL identified an opportunity to propose a Value-Based Proposition (VBP) to one of its Managed Care Organizations. ICL tasked a team with developing a VBP proposal with a cost saving incentive and a strategy for improving patient lives by addressing social determinants of health. The team conducted an extensive literature review and performed a data analysis using ICL data, New York State Office of Mental Health data, and patient demographic information. The team developed a VBP proposal focused on delivering community-based integrated care to a target patient population in order to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and ER visits, ultimately saving the Managed Care Organization nearly $4 million.
Measuring the Impact of Streetscape Changes on Bus Service
MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) is a public agency in New York State that operates public transportation in New York City. The NYCT Department of Buses manages an extensive bus network serving the five boroughs. A unique challenge facing NYCT is that buses operate on crowded, changing streets where they share space with a growing number of other users. NYCT Buses enlisted a Capstone team to analyze how streetscape changes in the past five years have impacted the speed and reliability of bus service. The team selected twenty locations citywide to study the effects of streetscape changes such as bike lanes, turn restrictions, and speed reduction treatments. The team analyzed bus performance and safety data, researched best practices in other cities, and conducted interviews with select NYCT staff and external stakeholders. Based on the compiled data, the team developed a comprehensive report with recommendations for public street changes that will enhance bus service.
Recommendations for Quality-driven Dashboard Transformation
NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital (NYULOH) has a distinguished tradition of medical innovation, providing specialized care for people with orthopedic, musculoskeletal, and neurological conditions. The quality movement in medicine is redefining the delivery of health care, and the effect on orthopedic surgery is substantial and increasing in importance. NYULOH has a robust dashboard displaying a large number of metrics and significant data. The Capstone team was tasked with analyzing NYULOH’s current dashboard in relation to appropriate quality metrics for orthopedic surgery, and with adding items to the current display, such as physician-specific and procedure-specific data, to make it more user-friendly. The team conducted an extensive literature review and met with multiple departmental stakeholders to understand their individual needs. Using its findings, the team developed a comprehensive list of recommendations to improve the dashboards at NYULOH.
Developing an Infrastructure Scorecard for NYC
The New York Building Foundation provides grants to support professional development and education in the design, construction, and real estate industries in New York City. Although national and state infrastructure needs are well documented, infrastructure needs in NYC are not. The New York Building Foundation approached the Capstone team to develop a solution to improve documentation of infrastructure needs in NYC. The team created a comprehensive scorecard to provide citizens and decision-makers a better understanding of infrastructure issues that can lead to lasting change for the city. The scorecard evaluates five core areas of public infrastructure—roads, communications, airports, energy, and mass transit—on a five-star scale that analyzes access, capacity, reliability, finances, and equity/sustainability. The team studied various evaluation models and compared NYC infrastructure data to national data, finding that NYC largely has comprehensive and high-quality infrastructure, while identifying key areas to improve its reliability, equity, and sustainability.