2000115-Strengthening-Communities-with-Neighborhood-Data

126 Strengthening Communities with Neighborhood Data
Failures in intelligibility start with language barriers, which can render
even the clearest information worthless. Language conversion is
already implemented in many data systems, but it is far from perfect.
Some information systems convey information in a highly graphical way,
but most do not. Educational achievement can significantly affect intelligibility.
Information systems require a level of expertise ranging from
very low to very high. The lower a person’s expertise in the relevant subject,
the fewer information resources can be leveraged. Illiteracy renders
most information systems totally or nearly worthless.
Accessibility overlaps with intelligibility (especially in the realm of
disabilities such as impaired vision), but it includes physical barriers to
information media. The decades-long efforts to conquer the digital divide
have had some important victories, but many people still lack access.
Timeliness is important because effective action is almost always
bound by windows of opportunity. It doesn’t help to learn about an
opportunity after it has passed. In one tragic but instructive example,
the massive public service campaign against cigarette smoking in the late
20th century came too late for many smokers, who were already ill or
addicted when the information became widely available. In a more mundane
example, a train- or bus-tracking system that broadcasts a service
delay only after it has been resolved is not very useful. When individuals
are required to invest time in overcoming barriers to information, they
often acquire the information after it has lost some or all of its value.
Finally, information alone is rarely actionable, because most action
requires both information and noninformation resources, such as
money, time, transportation, and so on. Information about a subsidized
loan program for homebuyers may require that the applicants be bankable,
but it is not truly actionable in the absence of financial resources.
Knowing that a clinic is offering free screening is less valuable to someone
without transportation resources. Information about free public
training workshops may have little value for a single parent working two
jobs and thus lacking time.
Opportunities for Incremental Change
Clearly, there is much room for improvement in the realm of information
tools for community revitalization. The essential challenge is
to lower barriers to software creation and raise our collective capacity