The document proposes a "social services mashup", which would provide a centralized, customizable online platform for accessing information about social services and programs. Currently, finding such information requires searching multiple individual websites. The proposed mashup would aggregate this data into a single site, allowing users to easily locate services based on their location and other needs. Its goals are to simplify access to information, encourage collaboration among social services organizations, and improve delivery of programs. Developers are invited to get involved and provide feedback to help realize this vision.

1. SOCIAL SERVICES MASHUP
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77945684@N00/377111497
/
Sponsored by
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)
www.ocasi.org
Partnership Platform www.partnershipplatform.ca
U of T CSC490 Capstone students

2. CURRENT ISSUES
Each organization/agency/government party
provides information individually
Find ESL classes in Toronto at:
www.esltoronto.ca
www.211toronto.ca
www.ymcatoronto.org
www.torontopubliclibrary.ca
…
Information is
not displayed in an intuitive manner
difficult to find
often not customizable

3. THE TWO WORLDS
The mediocre world
Go to multiple sources to find what you are
looking for
Every agency reinvents the wheel again and
again
Everyone fighting for the same source of
funding to do the same things

4. FIND ESL CLASSES IN TORONTO – THE HARD WAY
1. Where are the ESL Classes?
Big unordered list of ESL Classes in the GTA

5. FIND ESL CLASSES IN TORONTO – THE HARD WAY
(CONT’D)
2. Great… Now I know there are 500 ESL courses
being offered, which one should I take?
Google maps
•How close is it?
•TTC? TTC Website
•Near daycare?
Daycare
•Has a good Indian Info sites
Restaurant nearby?
toronto.com
•Close to my bank?
•… Bank Website

6. THE TWO WORLDS
Our grand vision of the world
“Look ma, all the info I’m looking for on one
site!”
Nation-wide collaborative initiative
Shared outcome – other agencies can use it too!
More funding available to be spent on needed
services

7. FIND ESL CLASSES IN TORONTO – THE EASY WAY
1. Enter your Postal Code
2. Choose your filtering criteria
(ESL, LINC classes, TTC, Daycare etc)
3. GO!

8. WHAT IS A SOCIAL SERVICES MASHUP?
Customizable map of social services, public listings
and businesses
Simplified and centralized access
Visual representation of services in the
neighbourhood

9. WHAT WE’VE BEEN WORKING ON
Business analysis and requirements gathering
Proof of concept
Harmonizing overlapping data pulled from multiple
sources
Web interface to define mappings between a new data
source and a uniform taxonomy

10. OUR SOLUTION
Use of open source tools a must!
TurboGears is the chosen framework
Uses Python 2.5
Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture
Rapid-development of database-driven web
applications

11. WHERE WE WANT TO GO
Involve multiple stakeholders, data providers,
businesses, technology community
Provide a platform for dialog and ideas
Design an open source application for the social
services sector
Share our API with other community service
providers

12. WHY IS THIS VENTURE IMPORTANT?
Benefit to the general public
“Go to” site for community information
Information from all agencies in one place
Faster access
Benefit to the tech community
Corporate social responsibility
Opportunity to try innovative solutions
Commercial uses of the application http://www.flickr.com/photos/techbirmingham/76169852/
Benefit to the non-profit sector
Improve program delivery, outreach, client impact
Collaboration is more effective

13. WHY IS THIS VENTURE SOO IMPORTANT IT
GETS TWO SLIDES?
Benefit to the general public
“Go to” site for community information
Information from all agencies in one place
Faster access
Benefit to the tech community
Corporate social responsibility
Opportunity to try innovative solutions
Commercial uses of the application http://www.flickr.com/photos/techbirmingham/76169852/
Benefit to the non-profit sector
Improve program delivery, outreach, client impact
Collaboration is more effective

14. WHY SHOULD I CARE?
Showcase your mad skillz
Don’t just write code, change lives
Contribute to the Open Source Community
Simplify the lives of Ontario residents

15. IMPLICATIONS
Be part of a “Social Tech” community helping non-
profit organizations increase impact and achieve
social change
Your set of skills is what’s missing in the non-
profit community, so come fill the void!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsphotos/194707924/

16. IMPLICATIONS (CONT’D)
Break away from the “silo” mentality, increase
collective potential by working together
Connecting people with the information and
services they need, intuitively, easily
http://www.northbaycouncil.org/x/images/hand_shake.gif

17. WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
Roll up your sleeves and give us feedback
We have only taken the first baby steps, help us
achieve our vision
Contribute, Criticize, Collaborate, come be a part
of the action!

18. CONTACT US
Clara Severino (U of T)
clarasev@gmail.com
Jane Zhang (Partnership Platform)
jane@partnershipplatform.ca
Marco Campana (OCASI)
marco@ocasi.org