THE OPPORTUNITY PROJECT

2020 ANNUAL REPORT

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Table of Contents

Letter from The Opportunity Project Team........................................ 3

Our Mission and Values.......................................................................... 4

Introduction to The Opportunity Project

How TOP Works........................................................................... 5
Who’s Involved............................................................................. 6

2020 Sprints
Themes......................................................................................... 7
Collaborators......................................................................... 8-9
Products................................................................................ 10-13

Demo Week
Overview.................................................................................... 14
Speaker Highlights................................................................... 15
Session Spotlights.................................................................... 16

New in 2020
Highlights....................................................................................17
TOPx Toolkit and Pilot Sprint.................................................. 18

Happening in 2021................................................................................. 19

Acknowledgments.................................................................................20
 Letter from
ANNUAL REPORT
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The Opportunity Project

Team

Dear stakeholders,

We are pleased to share the 2020 annual report, which is a testament to the incredible achievements of The Opportunity
Project (TOP) community over the past year. In 2020, our nation faced unprecedented challenges and the nature of work
transitioned to be more remote and, in some ways, more isolated than ever before. Though our largely virtual team and
sprint process were prepared for this transition, 2020 created many opportunities for us to learn and create a more
inclusive process that engaged a more diverse group of collaborators than ever before. We were heartened and inspired by
the strength of the TOP community, and the hundreds of people who showed up to solve challenges facing the planet, even
in spite of a global pandemic.

TOP brings together technologists, government, and communities to rapidly prototype digital products — powered by
federal open data—that solve real-world problems for people across the country. To date, TOP’s 12-week technology
development sprints have catalyzed over 130 consumer-facing digital products that leverage open data to address
challenges like air and ocean pollution, youth and veteran homelessness, the opioid crisis, rural economic development,
expanding the innovation economy, and much more.

Last year was also a year of significant growth for the program. It marked a major milestone – The Opportunity Project’s
five year anniversary – and included many successes and innovations. The 2020 sprints focused on 8 Natural and
Built Environment challenges including Reducing Ocean Plastic Pollution and Facilitating Sustainable Rural Economic
Development. To innovate the way problems are defined in our process, we held a first-ever virtual cross-sector roundtable
with 50 participants from 25 different organizations. Major NGOs such as Oceana and National Geographic collaborated
with agencies such as NOAA, the Department of Energy, EPA, and more to jointly define pressing challenges. The sprints
that followed the roundtable brought together 40 tech teams (more than in any prior year), 20 federal agencies, and 72
nonprofits and state and local governments to develop a record-breaking 38 new digital products for the public.

TOP’s sixth annual Demo Day was held virtually for the first time and was expanded into a 3-day virtual Demo Week. This
conference saw 1,500 registered attendees, 104 speakers across 24 sessions, 17 hours of programming, and over 10,000
YouTube views. Much more than showcasing the work resulting from the year’s sprints, we hosted discussions featuring
tribal voices, student presentations, open networking sessions, live interactive virtual demo booths, a product mentoring
session, a live virtual meditation, and more. We dove into topics such as the state of the federal innovation ecosystem, and
hosted open learning sessions on data and human centered design for public servants. We’re proud that our Demo Week
speakers genuinely looked like America, with more than half of the speakers being female, more than one third people of
color, speakers ranging in age from 18 to 80, representing diverse political views, and voices such as Native Americans,
combat disabled veterans, and more.

The year also heralded unique opportunities and initiatives. We held our first University Sprint, which brought together
ten student teams from innovation centers, project-based courses, and student organizations from institutions of higher
education across the nation. We launched a national partnership with the American Statistical Association (ASA) on
the Annual Data Expo Challenge, in which contestants analyze Census Bureau data to develop visualizations and digital
products that “Help Families, Businesses, and Communities Respond to COVID-19.” And perhaps most importantly, The
Opportunity Project launched TOPx, a detailed toolkit that open sources our tech sprint model, enabling any federal
agency to facilitate sprints on their own timelines and topics. We piloted the toolkit with the Department of State’s Office
of Foreign Assistance (F) and 3 tech teams focused on the challenge of reimagining civics education. TOPx represents a
major milestone in institutionalizing TOP within the federal government’s knowledge base, and we plan to expand its use
further in the coming years.

As we continue into 2021, we hope to collaborate with many of you again. Our next Opportunity Project Prize Challenge
will award funds to tech teams who utilize the TOP model to develop digital products. In 2021, The Opportunity Project will
focus on topics including the economy and sustainability post-COVID-19, and engaging communities with 2020 Census
data. Last year demonstrated the remarkable resilience of our community, and whether it’s through a sprint, workshop, or
TOPx, we look forward to working with new and familiar faces this year.

Sincerely,

The Opportunity Project Team

at the U.S. Census Bureau
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Our Mission & Values

Pictured from left: (top row) Dominica Zhu, Drew Zachary, Haley Ashcom Miller, (middle row) Radhika Bhatt, Lorena Molina-Irizarry, Anna Valuev,
(bottom row) Michael Neal Bagby, Sam Potasznik, Emma Brennan. We’d also like to thank 2020 TOP team members not pictured: Mara Abrams, Ivan
Metzger, Anna Kizer, Marcella Maki, Tia Thompson, Jianna So, and Neve Foresti.

Our Mission: To catalyze the creation of digital products that use open federal data to
solve pressing challenges for communities nationwide.

Our Values: Building connections across sectors and industries

Delivering value to the people
Increasing use of federal open data
Employing human-centered design principles
Amplifying community voices, especially those often unheard
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Introduction / How TOP Works

5

Collaborative technology development sprints.

1. Identify Challenges
Federal agencies identify high-
priority challenges facing the
public.

2. Team Up
Tech teams from industry and
universities sign on to create
data-driven, digital products in
collaboration with end users, data “
and policy experts.

3. Build
Tech teams build digital products
during a 12 week virtual tech
development sprint that includes
user research, data exploration, and
product development. Past products
include mapping tools, apps,
websites, games, AI algorithms,
network visualizations, and more.

4. Launch
At the end of the sprint, products
are launched and showcased at
Demo Day, an open press event.

“The TOP sprint model exposes

5. Reach End Users tech teams to people we wouldn’t
otherwise be able to connect
with. That not only accelerates
After the sprint, participants help
the process but it also makes the
to get the products to end users
work we do right the first time”
and move the needle on national
challenges. Teams have the option
— 2020 TOP Tech Team Member
to apply for a financial prize to
continue their work.
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Introduction / Who’s Involved

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Cross-sector collaborators solve pressing challenges.

Federal Agencies Tech Teams

Agencies throughout the federal government Companies, universities, non-profits, and
define major challenges facing the public. students who build digital products in the
During the 12-week sprint, policy experts and sprints.
data stewards from each agency provide
feedback to the participating teams and
assistance working with federal open data.

User Advocates Product Advisors

Community leaders, advocates, and people Technology product experts who consult
with direct lived experience in the target tech teams on how to develop viable
challenges who guide tech teams in designing products that can be sustained after the
solutions that are realistic and useful for the sprint.
target end users.

“It was really fun to be able to

use my experience for a product
Sustainability Partners being developed. As community
advocates, we often work in a silo,
Technology accelerators and other and the lessons we learn don’t get
organizations focused on product launch and distributed. Through TOP, we see
go-to-market strategy act as advisors to the people come together from different
tech teams. perspectives and create something
that will be useful.”

– 2020 Sprint User Advocate

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2020 Earth Sprints / Themes

In 2020, The Opportunity Project sprints focused on 2

critical themes through 8 problem statements:

1. Natural Environment
Developing Markets for Recycled Materials
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Reducing Ocean Plastic Pollution

U.S. Department of State & The Wilson Center

Increasing Awareness of Transportation Emissions’

Effects on Air Quality
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The 3 sprints in 2020 included:

Aiding Agriculture Decision-Making

U.S. Department of Agriculture
40 Tech Teams

2. Built Environment 20 Federal Agencies

Helping Families Achieve Economic Self-Sufficiency
U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
72 Nonprofits +
Assisting Recently Resettled Refugees
USA for UNHCR State and Local
Facilitating Sustainable Rural Government
Economic Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
38 Digital Tools
Tracking Impact of Disaster and
Emergency Spending
Office of Management & Budget

Participants worked with topic-specific datasets “I really enjoyed engaging with

listed on The Opportunity Project Data Curation others interested in the same
Hub, with modules curated for the Natural and topics, seeing the variety of
Built Environment. people and what they could
create.”

– 2020 TOP User Advocate

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2020 Sprints / Collaborators

Below are some of our collaborators from 2020.

Others are listed on page 20.

Tech Teams

Government Agencies and Problem Statement Leaders

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2020 Sprints / Collaborators

User Advocates

Product Advisors & Sustainability Partners

“A big part of TOP are user advocates,

or the people who will benefit from
the product. Having them involved
with the tech teams, and then having
product advisors and data steward
support, creates synergies between
all of those groups and sets you up
for more success than if it was just
a federal agency or even an agency
and a tech team collaborating.”

– 2020 TOP Participant,

U.S. Department of Agriculture
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2020 Sprints / Products

Natural Environment
Reducing Ocean Plastic Pollution 4. Penn Data Science
U.S. Department of State & The Wilson Center Depicts a story map illustrating how plastics find their way
to the ocean and ultimately the food chain, as well as the
subsequent health effects.
1. r Georgetown University
Data used: Earth Challenge 2020 Integrated Data.
Campus Plastic Initiative
by Georgetown University 5. PPIO by Rutgers University
Beeck Center Increases awareness of beach cleanup events and helps
organizers plan future cleanups by predicting the number of
Tracks plastic pollution on college campuses and educates
volunteers needed.
students on the impacts of plastics in their communities
through educational modules, a dashboard, and a playbook. Data used: Earth Challenge Integrated Data: Plastic Pollution
(MLW, MDMAP, TIDES).
Data used: Earth Challenge Integrated Dataset and Earth
Challenge 2020 app.
6. Pollution Policy Watch
2. The UN Environment Programme by George Mason University
Dashboard by IBM Visualizes the effect of plastic bans on coastal plastic
pollution for policy makers and advocates.
Shows the power of Data and AI to address the need to
demonstrate progress against the Sustainable Development Data used: Earth Challenge 2020 Consolidated Data.
Goal 14- Life Below Water by setting a baseline for global
marine litter density using Machine Learning methods. 7. Sea Scavenger by Code for Tucson
Data used: Earth Challenge Integrated Data: Plastic Pollution Highlights the issue of ocean plastic pollution through an
(MLW, MDMAP, TIDES). interactive game for all age groups.
Data used: Earth Challenge Integrated Data: Top 10 Sources
3. Ocean Plastics Story Map by Esri of Plastic Pollution by Country; Earth Challenge Integrated
by Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) Data: Plastic Pollution (MLW, MDMAP, TIDES).
Compiles tangible and novel data sets to energize public
consciousness and provide new insights into ocean plastic 8. The Ghost Gear Project by Harvard
pollution, offering actions for citizens and policymakers to University Institute of Politics
solve this challenge.
Visualizes the location of discarded fishing nets and explores
Data used: EPA; Citizen Science Portal; Interpol; GRID-Arendal; solutions for policymakers, NGOs, and the general public.
PEW; Woldemar d’Ambrières.
Data used: Global Fishing Watch’s Anchorages Dataset; Earth
Challenge 2020 Integrated Data.

Developing Markets for Recycled Materials 2. Eco Bloc

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Creates a B2B Marketplace for recycled materials that helps
to enable local circular economies.
1. C Chicago Circular Economy Data used: EPA Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and
Recycling; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries.
by SAP
3. TruCycle MRF
by Resource Recycling Systems (RRS)
Empowers city officials to make informed decisions around A certification for material recovery facilities reflecting
waste management that lead to transparency, investment, level of community relationship, material sorting, value of
and job creation through a circular economy. materials, and end market success.
Data used: EPA; Association of Plastics Recyclers; Illinois Data used: Census Bureau; EPA WARM Model; EPA Municipal
Recycling Association; Plastics Markets - Buyers and Sellers; Solid Waste Report.
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries; The Recycling
Partnership.
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2020 Sprints / Products

Natural Environment
Increasing Awareness of Transportation 3. r Clean Air Hero
Emissions’ Effects on Air Quality by Rutgers University
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

1. r AirMotionDC
Educates young students about air quality and bus emissions
by American University and encourages students, parents, and teachers to create
healthier school environments.
Data used: EPA Idle-Free Schools Toolkit.

Compiles and analyzes real-time data on traffic patterns and

air pollution in DC, allowing policymakers to explore the effect 4. AQ Snapshot by OpenAQ
of transportation on air quality. Generates air quality reports based on location, date, and
Data used: EPA AirNow; Open Data DC Street Segments API; pollutant type.
DC GIS Master Address Repository; TomTom Traffic API. Data used: EPA AirNow.

2. Air Aware by George Mason University 5. Code for South Florida

Identifies neighborhoods for people seeking to move to Visualizes air quality data, which local government officials
locations with better air quality. can use for decision making and residents can use to better
Data used: EPA National Emissions Inventory; National Lung understand the air in their communities.
Association State of the Air. Data used: EPA Air Now.

Aiding Agriculture Decision-Making 3. r NAIP Downloader and

U.S. Department of Agriculture Education Modules
by Geosurge
1. r NAIP Explorer
by Mapbox
Lowers the barrier to learning about agricultural imagery for
farmers and anyone who wants to learn.
Data used: WUSDA National Agriculture Imagery Program
Provides a gentle on-ramp and simple way to explore NAIP (NAIP).
imagery for users at USDA and the farmers they serve.
Data used: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program 4. PAGAF: Precision Ag for all American
(NAIP). Farmers by New Light Technologies
Uses NAIP data to provide free precision agriculture services
2. Cesium to farmers.
Increases accessibility of NAIP imagery data for farmers and Data used: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program
other interested stakeholders by pulling this data into the (NAIP); USDA Cropland Data Layer; ESA Sentinel 2.
existing Cesium platform.
Data used: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program
(NAIP).
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2020 Sprints / Products

Built Environment
Help Families Achieve Economic Self-Sufficiency 4. r Julius Career Journey
U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Program
by Julius Education
1. r The EnVision App
by Organizational Brings job opportunities and career maps to life, enabling a
Performance Systems, Inc. clear path for job seekers to training and employment.
Data used: Census Quarterly Workforce Indicators; Census
Economic Data; BLS Occupational Employment Statistics.
Helps economically disadvantaged Americans break the
cycle of generational poverty and create a positive path to
self-sufficiency. 5. iDISPLA 360-Degree Data Fusion Virtual
Data used: HHS Poverty Guidelines; Census Income and Ecosystem Platform by Greer Institute-ISC
Poverty; Census ACS; GAO. iDISPLA Consortium
Provides novel insights to promote economic self-sufficiency
2. America’s Community Collaboration to low-income families by integrating federal data and user-
Platform by Council Exchange generated content.

Board of Trade Data used: HUD; Census Bureau ACS; FCC Broadband.

Connects service providers and low income families to

program resources that enable self-sufficiency and economic 6. Self-Sufficiency Pathways by Emsi
mobility. Identifies career opportunities that will allow career coaches
Data used: HUD Picture of Subsidized Households; HUD and case managers to help individuals move away from
Federal Programs; HUD EnVision Centers; HUD Opportunity requiring supplemental assistance.
Zones; IRS SOI Tax Stats. Data used: HUD Services and Benefits.

3. Envision Success by Tech Levitate

Utilizes AI technology to help case managers assist low
income families moving toward economic self-sufficiency.
Data used: IRS SOI Tax Stats.

Assisting Recently Resettled Refugees 2. RefugeeAssist by Georgetown University

USA for UNHCR and Columbia University
Enables refugees to identify community resources near them
1. r FindHello during and after their resettlement period in the United
by USAHello + SAS States.
Data used: State Department WRAPSnet; NTIA BroadbandUSA.

3. Resettled Refugee Services and Data

Connects immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers Explorer by Graphicacy & Mapbox
connect with resources in their area, using a data set built in
partnership with service organizations. Helps recently resettled refugees locate vital services within
their area and see the landscape of refugees around the
Data used: State Department WRAPSnet; FindHello database. United States by country of origin.
Data used: State Department WRAPSNET; Charity Navigator.
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2020 Sprints / Products

Built Environment
Facilitating Sustainable Rural Economic 3. Maine Business Resources
Development by Syracuse University
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Helps small business owners in Maine to grow together by
providing them with information necessary to start/expand
their business.
1. r R Story
Data used: Census County Business Patterns.
by Columbia University
4. True Connections by YouthMappers
Uses federal open data sets and citizen science to help rural
Simplifies and visualizes federal open data to support communities share their stories of internet access.
storytelling for rural economic development. Data used: FCC Form 477.
Data used: Census ACS; FCC Form 477; BLS Quarterly Census
of Employment and Wages; EPA National Walkability Index; 5. Tech Talent Tracker by Center on Rural
BEA GDP and Industry Data; HUD Fair Market Rents.
Innovation (CORI)
Creates digital economy reports for rural leaders designing
2. City Builder by Citi Ventures economic development strategies.
Provides data-driven transparency into communities’ needs, Data used: Census ACS; NAICS; DOE College Scorecard;
so investors can create targeted positive impact through Census County Population by Characteristics; Census County
local investments. Business Patterns; USPTO Inventors Geocoded.
Data used: Census ACS; FCC Form 47; Institute of Museums
and Library Services Museum Data Files; Public Libraries 6. TeleCommunity by Tierra Plan
Survey; CDC Social Vulnerability Index; USDA Food Access
Research Atlas; National Council of State Housing Agencies; Facilitates rural economic development by connecting
SEC EDGAR database. remote workers with rural communities.
Data used: FCC Broadband; Census ACS; EPA Smart
Location Database; EPA Atlas of Rural America; EPA Livability
Indicators.

Tracking Impact of 2. r Disaster Spending Tracker

Disaster and Emergency Spending by Baruch College Public
Office of Management & Budget Finance Institute
1. r Emergency & Disaster
Tracks the flow of COVID-19 related spending by the federal
Funding Tracking government and its impact on economic recovery.
by RevealGC & Alteryx Data used: USA Spending.

Tracks and analyzes the impact of disaster relief funding for

3. Urban Footprint
mitigation and recovery efforts using big data, aerial imagery, Provides nationwide, sector-specific insights to answer
predictive analytics and geo-spatial technologies. critical questions on urban transformation and policy,
community resilience, hazard and climate risk, and social
Data used: USASpending; FEMA; HHS Annual Performance
equity.
Report; HUD Fair Market Rents; IRS; CDC/SVI; Census Bureau;
DOL; BLS. Data used: USA Spending, proprietary data.
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Demo Week / Overview

Each year, The Opportunity Projects facilitates a Demo

Day, typically an in-person event in Washington DC,
where the tech industry, academia, government, and Demo Week by the Numbers:
communities gather for an annual showcase of digital
tools built through TOP.
3 Days
For the first time this year,
Demo Day was expanded into 24 Sessions
Demo Week, a virtual 3-day
conference, allowing for a record-breaking 17 Hours of
number of sessions, participants, and perspectives.
Programming

Demo Week was a celebration of work accomplished in 104 Speakers

2020 and the values the TOP community embodies:

Collaboration across all sectors

1,500 Registered
and silos Attendees
Human-centered design as a critical
part of data and technology 10,000+
YouTube Views
The promise of government innovation
and the future of civic tech

Lifting up the voices of those too often

left out of conversations about data “Having Demo Week was
and tech something that we were all
looking forward to in order to
take our product and pull it
The power of “building with, not for” together to make it presentable
for people to view. It helped
solidify our entire experience.”

– 2020 TOP Tech Team Member

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Demo Week / Speaker Highlights

Technology Education

Batool Hussain Pat Bajari Elizabeth Nguyen Michelle Zee

Head of Americas Sustainability VP and Chief Economist, Undergraduate Student, Graduate Student,
Services, SAP Amazon Core AI Georgetown Beeck Center Columbia University Quantitative
Methods in the Social Sciences

Kunal Sawarkar Linda Ge Sukhmeet Bedi Andreen Soley

Principal Data Scientist, IBM Vice President, Digital Product Undergraduate Student, Director, Public Interest Technology
Manager Lead, Citi Ventures Rutgers Innovation, Design, and (PIT) University Network,
Entrepreneurship Academy New America

Government Community and Advocacy

Ron Jarmin Matt Dalbey Aden Van Noppen Jenna Jambeck

Current Acting Director, Director, Office of Community Founder & Executive Director, Distinguished Professor and
US Census Bureau Revitalization, U.S. Environmental Mobius National Geographic Fellow,
Protection Agency University of Georgia

Nico Papfil Sara Brenner Maria Howeth Basma Alawee

Director, 10x, General Services Associate Director for Medical Sr. Customer Success Manager and Florida Refugee Organizer, Refugee
Administration Affairs & Chief Medical Officer for Tribal Specialist, Choctaw Nation Congress
In Vitro Diagnostics, Food and Drug of Oklahoma and, eCivis
Administration

Jennifer Lassiter Ben Carson Dan Correa Ben Sledge

Chief of Staff and Operations Secretary, Former U.S. Director, Day One Project & Director of Veteran Outreach,
Lead, Design + Development, Secretary of Housing and Urban Strategic Advisor, Partnership for HeartSupport
Tech & Innovation, Consumer Development Public Service
Financial Protection Bureau
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Demo Week / Session Spotlights

The wide variety of Demo Week sessions included:

Keynote addresses
Tech team lightning talks
Hands-on learning
workshops
Live Technology Product
Demos

1. Empowering Communities for 3. Native Voices:

Resilience and Sustainable What Do We Need To Hear?
Growth How Technology, Data and
The health of rural communities and access to services,
infrastructure, and data is critical to implementing solutions
Government Can Best Serve
that tackle economic, environmental and human health
challenges. In this session, technologists and community
Tribal Communities
leaders came together to showcase creative solutions An intimate discussion with leaders of the Choctaw Nation,
that help the American public understand the challenges, Tsuut’ina Nation, and Muscogee (Creek) Nation on their needs
gaps and opportunities to help facilitate sustainable rural during exceptionally challenging times, the work currently
economic development and track federal financial assistance being done by tribal organizations, and the most effective and
to local communities in response to emergencies and appropriate ways to create external partnerships that center
disasters. on native communities’ well-being. These tribal members
discussed the complexity and discrepancies within the
digital divide, what economic development really means, the
2. Learn with TOP: A Master importance of understanding sovereignty within the context
of Indian people, and how to create meaningful partnerships.
Class on Human-Centered
Design for Public Servants 4. Hearing Veterans Voices:
(of any kind!) Community + Tech to Support
How can government adopt design methodologies to become
more efficient, modern, and accessible? This workshop was a
Mental Health
masterclass in Human Centered Design taught by 3 seasoned When WWII veterans served, they made up 11% of the US
experts from government and industry. The session covered population… today, in the midst of our longest running
basic methods of human centered design, including topics conflicts, it’s less than 1%. What burden has that placed on our
like user research, ideation, and storytelling. vets, especially when many are not truly heard about what
they’ve seen and experienced? How can technology and The
Opportunity Project community can support? This session
featured a TED-style talk by writer, veteran and advocate
Ben Sledge on his story and the conversations we need to
have about supporting veterans, and a raw and personal
fireside chat between 3 post-9/11 veterans that addressed
a range of topics including trauma, mental health, the
difficulties in returning back to civilian life, and the pressing
need for veterans to connect to one another for support and
technologys’ role in facilitating these connections.
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New in 2020 / Highlights

Aligning on Cross-Sector Priorities

Earth Sprint Roundtable
On March 20, 2020, The Opportunity Project convened its first
roundtable, focused on natural and built environment challenges,
and dedicated to a more inclusive method of problem definition
that engaged national and global NGOs alongside federal
agencies. Nearly 50 participants virtually joined the event,
representing expertise from 25 organizations, including Ocean
Conservancy, UN Environment, National Geographic Society, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and others. Participants shared
their organizations’ critical priorities, identified areas of alignment,
and brainstormed ways these challenges could be addressed
through The Opportunity Project. Many of the ideas discussed at
the roundtable formed the bases of the eight problem statements
addressed through the 2020 TOP Earth Sprints.

Engaging the Employing Census Bureau

Next Generation of Data to Address the
Technologists COVID-19 Pandemic
University Sprint American Statistical Association Partnership
For the first time in fall 2020, The Opportunity In 2020, The Opportunity Project partnered with the American Statistical
Project facilitated a sprint composed entirely Association on its annual Data Expo Challenge, a competition with cash prizes
of university technologists. Ten teams made up for the best analysis and visualization of government data. Crowdsourcing from
of undergraduate and graduate students from within the Bureau, this year’s theme is “Helping Families, Business, and Communities
institutions of higher education participated, Respond to COVID-19.” The Opportunity Project launched a module on its Data
representing project-based courses, innovation Curation Hub focused entirely on COVID-19 open data sets primarily from the
centers, and student organizations. Participating Census Bureau. Contestants are challenged to analyze this data and/or develop
universities included Georgetown, Columbia, digital products, and present their findings at ASA’s Joint Statistical Meeting (JSM).
Syracuse, Harvard, George Mason, Rutgers, and Abstract submissions are due April 14, 2021.
American University, as well as a cross-university
team from YouthMappers.

Charting a Path for TOP’s Collaborations with NGOs

USA for UNHCR Developed a TOP Built
Environment Problem Statement
This year marked the first time an NGO, USA for UNHCR, rather
than a federal agency, took the role of a problem statement lead,
aiming to catalyze tools that use federal open data to support
refugees resettling into American communities. This partnership
charts a path for future TOP efforts, allowing agencies and NGOs
to easily collaborate and achieve a shared mission.
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New in 2020 / Highlights

TOPx Toolkit Launch

At Demo Week, The Opportunity Project publicly

launched TOPx, a toolkit for federal agencies that
opens up the The Opportunity Project playbook to
enable federal agencies to transform open data
into digital tools that solve key national challenges
at the hearts of their missions, all on flexible and
modifiable timelines. The TOPx toolkit includes detailed
descriptions of each step in facilitating a TOP sprint
as well as checklists with key action items, timelines,
effort levels, tips and best practices, as well as
downloadable templates.

Agencies can freely use the toolkit to support their own

tech sprints, or partner with Census Bureau to receive
additional support and guidance. TOPx represents a
major milestone in institutionalizing TOP within the
federal government’s knowledge base, and we look
forward to expanding its use further in the coming
years.

TOPx Pilot Sprint

Re-imagining Civics Education for Tech Teams:

the Next Generation

In the fall of 2020, The Department of State’s Office
of Foreign Assistance (F) was the first agency to use
the TOPx toolkit through a pilot sprint that challenged
participants to reimagine civics education, bringing open
data and evidence-based examples to the classroom. User Advcates:
Our pilot with the State team helped to improve the
TOPx toolkit and demonstrate its viability as a model for
scaling TOP further across government.

In collaboration with 12 organizations representing

teachers, students, and education advocates, 3 tech
teams developed digital products to address this
important challenge.
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Happening in 2021 / Get Involved

TOPx Sprints
Enabling COVID-19 Diagnostic Products
The Opportunity Project is collaborating with the US Department
of Health and Human Services on a sprint focused on COVID-19 Interested in TOPx?
Diagnostic Data Tools. The goal of the sprint is to increase speed,
We encourage federal agencies to reach out to the
quality, comprehensiveness, and utility of COVID-19 diagnostic
TOP team at census.opportunityproject@census.gov
test data, as well as ensure that diagnostic tools can securely
so that we can provide more information and help you
transmit test results to local and national public health authorities,
get started.
and to health care providers and patients. These capabilities will
be critical for data capture and reporting when at-home, non-
prescription, and over-the-counter tests are authorized and begin
saturating the market.

2021 Themes
Each year since 2018, we’ve run sprints focused on broad
themes, like workforce, geospatial challenges, and earth-related
challenges. In 2021, The Opportunity Project will focus on
COVID-19 economic recovery, climate, and engaging communities
meaningfully with 2020 Census and other statistical data. Public
servants, companies, universities and any other stakeholders
interested in participating in TOP sprints related to these topics
are encouraged to sign up for updates or reach out to the TOP
team at census.opportunityproject@census.gov.

Data Curation Hub TOP Prize Challenge

This year we’ll continue to expand The Data Curation Hub with Given the importance of product sustainability, in 2021, The
open federal datasets focused on this year’s sprint themes. This Opportunity Project will be facilitating the second Opportunity
resource allows the public to access issue-specific data and Project prize challenge. Teams who have participated in The
connect with federal data experts familiar with each resource. Opportunity Project are eligible to compete for funding to expand
Those working in the open data community, we hope you will utilize their impact, deploy tools to end users, and deliver impact on
these datasets and connect with the data experts knowledgeable critical problems facing the public. Sign up here to receive updates
about each one! on the 2021 prize challenge.

Strategic Partnerships
The Opportunity Project will continue to develop strategic
partnerships, seeking collaborations to expand the TOP model
and opportunities to support technologists developing solutions
to these critical challenges. If your organization is interested in
exploring a partnership, please reach out.

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 ANNUAL REPORT
20

Acknowledgments

Thank you to all of the individuals and organizations that collaborated with The Opportunity Project.

Those who were not previously mentioned in the

report include:

180 Cares North Dakota State University

5Gyres Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Alina Okun Our Children’s Earth
Acadiana Planning Commission Papa Ola Lokahi
Advance Project Plants Project
Architecture for Refugees Plastics Industry Association
Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group Revolution Systems
Catholic Community Services Rural Community Assistance Corporation
Center for Disaster Philanthropy (RCAC)
Center for New Economy Rural Policy Research Institute
Center for Rural Affairs Save the Children
Center for Sustainable Communities SLC Air Protectors
City of Baltimore Southeast Recycling Development Council
Clean Air Council State of Louisiana
Colangelo Carpenter Innovation Center- State of Rhode Island
Leadership Foundations Sustainable Native Communities
Council of State Community Development Collaborative/MASS Design
Agencies (COSCDA) UN Environment
Eagle County Materials and Recycling Facility University of Delaware
Family Promise University of Georgia
Georgetown University, Beeck Center University of Maryland School of Public
Hello Neighbor HealthUniversity of Washington
HUD midwest region Urban Design 4 Health
Inceodia Utah Geographic Reference Center
Institute of Scrap Recycling Plastics (ISRI) (AGRC)
Integrity Management Services Inc Waste Management
KW Plastics Western Leaders Network
Lafayette Utilities System
Lonely Whale
Louisiana Governor’s Office
Mapbox
National Farmers Union
National Federation of Filipino American
Organizations (NaFFA)
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
Neighborhood Innovation Center
National Instruments