The Other Tools: Unit IV Summary and Major Assignments

Summary and Learning Objectives

Unit IV has presented a series of advanced analytic techniques and emergent technologies that have been rapidly influencing policy, practice, services, and products in communities. Though we did not learn how to implement these tools, we did learn their purpose, how they work, and when they are most valuable.

Technical Skills

Although we did not learn how to implement any new tools in this unit, we did learn about the technical basis and potential applications of the following:

  • Network science, the analysis of the ways in which people, places, and things are linked to each other;
  • Machine learning and artificial intelligence, techniques that allow the computer to determine the analytic model and its extensions;
  • Predictive analytics, the use of analytic models to forecast future events and conditions.
  • Sensor networks, which track environmental conditions across a city;
  • 5G, which is the newest generation of the cellular network;
  • Blockchain, which is an innovative way to create security in tracking the history of items.

Interpretive Skills

  • Determine when these tools are most useful;
  • Identify and overcome weaknesses of the tools, including ethical challenges they create.

Unit-Level Assignments

Community Experience Assignment

The community exploration assignments in this book are designed to align skills you have been learning with real-world contexts. They are most useful in conjunction with the Exploratory Data Assignments at the end of each chapter, especially when you have been working through them with a single data set. They provide an opportunity to “ground truth,” or really evaluate the assumptions and objectives that have guided your analysis thus far. There will be one in each unit. These can also be combined with a service-learning or capstone-oriented course.

This fourth community exploration assignment will explore how new tools are being used in a real-world setting. Please:

  1. Select a community of interest to you. This will likely need to have some level of local government associated with it (e.g., a town, city, or county).
  2. Conduct research about how one or more of the six tools learned in this unit is in use in this community. This could be a summary of multiple efforts or a deep dive on a specific use case. The examples could include policies, public programs or services, products or services from private corporations, or otherwise.
  3. Conduct additional research about the population living in this community and any challenges or opportunities present there that might influence the potential value of the technological tools of interest.
  4. Write a 3-5 page memo integrating (1) your findings on the technologically-driven activities in this community and (2) the features of the local population and the opportunities and challenges pertaining to technology. Be sure to evaluate how you think the efforts are progressing and how you anticipate them proceeding. The memo should include images from your exploration.

Post-Unit Assignment: Proposing a Technological Intervention

This unit of the book has focused on learning about some of the new analytic techniques and technologies that are shaping the practice of urban informatics. This assignment will connect this content with the previous units of the semester, assuming that you have completed Unit III’s post-unit assignment. If not, you are welcome to modify as needed.

You will write a policy proposal for the implementation of a technological intervention (or, alternatively, a proposal for why a certain technology is not a good idea or at least not a good idea right now). The technological intervention can be based on any of the six tools learned in this unit. It should be informed by original analysis, preferably that which was presented in your Unit III post-unit assignment.

The proposal should consist of:

  • A brief Executive Summary that details the main case you are making and the justification for it. It will probably need to briefly define the technology that is the focus of the paper. Think of the audience for this being someone who would benefit from the insights but might not have the time to read the whole paper or the desire to wade through methods.
  • A brief Introduction that presents the technological intervention of interest and sets up the evaluation of why you believe it would (or would not) be a positive addition to a given community.
  • A Background that describes the technological tool of interest, including its strengths and weaknesses, and situations when it is most likely to be useful.
  • A Recommendation that describes the basis of your reasoning for why this would be a good idea (or not a good idea) for a given community. This is where you will incorporate your own original analysis as evidence and justification.
  • Conclusion that summarizes the argument and makes final recommendations.

Suggested Rubric (Total 10 pts.)

Executive Summary: 2 pts.

Introduction: 1 pt.

Background: 2 pts.

Recommendation: 3 pts.

Conclusion: .5 pts.

Details: 1.5 pts.

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