EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 2-4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, 2014

EVENT: Demos of civic-minded, information-based projects for the city of Jackson, Mich., developed by University of Michigan School of Information students.

PLACE: Jackson City Hall, 161 W. Michigan Ave., Jackson, Mich.

BACKGROUND: Students in the Citizen Interaction Design course worked with civic organizations and government offices to identify information needs in the city. They designed tools to meet them, and will showcase their solutions. Projects include:

• Living History: As an essential transportation hub since the mid-1800s, Jackson is filled with historic buildings and sites. This project implements information tools to increase community support and appreciation for the preservation of historic structures.
• Open Data Policy: Students have been instrumental in getting Jackson to pass the state’s first open data ordinance, which establishes procedures for sharing information appropriately. Students are now working with the city to implement it.
• Distressed Property Report: To help residents understand the city’s efforts to eliminate distressed properties, students have developed a web interface providing information on blight and condemnation, specifically, the costs and schedule of buildings. This project builds on the current tool to provide citizens context in identifying and reporting blight.
• What’s at the Farmers’ Market? An issue for the farmers’ market is overall community engagement. Students are creating an information portal for the Downtown Development Association to recruit volunteers and engage community organizations in the marketplace.
• Art Smart: Jackson has multiple pieces of public art, mostly unknown to citizens. Students are developing a scavenger-hunt-based website to engage citizens in discovering the art that surrounds them.
• Step by Step: Partnering with Allegiance Health, students are developing a responsive website and application to share information about local trails and recreation centers to introduce citizens to new physical activity opportunities.
• Welcome to Jackson: New citizens often are at a loss to determine how to engage and learn about the city. Students are developing a “best of” website allowing for citizens to share their city favorites.
• Dig Jackson: Continuing on past projects about the downtown construction project, students are developing collector cards about local cultural facts to be distributed at downtown businesses, incentivizing citizens to visit downtown during construction.

Citizen Interaction Design is part of the UMSI Initiative for Information Impact. The program, now in its second year, represents a three-year commitment between the School of Information and the city of Jackson to develop and employ new information tools to increase citizen engagement with local government. The program includes a summer internship component and a Jackson project manager to facilitate interactions with appropriate personnel and provide onsite guidance. The course is taught by Cliff Lampe, associate professor of information.

Related Links:

• Citizen Interaction Design: https://www.si.umich.edu/academics/project-i-citizen-interaction-design
• U-M School of Information: https://www.si.umich.edu/
• Cliff Lampe: https://www.si.umich.edu/people/clifford-lampe
• Related news story: https://www.si.umich.edu/academics/project-i-citizen-interaction-design