New York City’s public interest technology community came together on Jan. 9 at the NYC PIT Pop-Up open house and relaunch hosted by the CUNY Public Interest Technology Lab, BetaNYC and PIT-UN at the Oculus.
Students, researchers, government officials and members of the public came together to explore how technology and open data can be used to solve real-life problems in the city.
The event focused on the idea that although data already exists, most people do not have the means to use it. Public interest technology aims to bridge that gap by turning government and research data into tools that civilians can use.
One of the main projects featured was the NYC Urban Heat Portal, led by researchers from Hunter College and BetaNYC. The portal helps explain how heat is distributed across the city and why some neighborhoods are affected more than others.
Urban heat is a serious public health issue that is growing as global temperatures rise. Factors such as tree cover, surface materials, building density and airflow all play a role.
The portal brings together several types of temperature data, including surface temperature, air temperature and heat index. Instead of showing one number, the tool combines all kinds of measures to give a bigger picture of heat exposure.
It also includes an outdoor heat exposure index that looks at environmental features like tree canopy, cool roofs and permeable surfaces.
The goal is to make this information easily accessible so that community groups, planners and policymakers can use it for advocacy, grant writing and decision-making.
Andrew Kittredge, director of the Civic Innovation Lab at BetaNYC, explained that tools like this help connect research to action.
The data has already been used by advocacy organizations to support environmental justice work and bring cases to government officials. The event also highlighted how public data can be used in interactive ways.
Dimitri Mimy, manager of educational programs and community initiatives and Naeema Haque, development and strategy manager at BetaNYC, led an interactive activity using 311 data.
Participants named common neighborhood issues and then explored when and where those issues were reported across the city. The activity helped explain how community districts work and how city agencies track quality of life concerns.
Another project featured was Doobneek, a financial tool built
for people who are often left out of traditional banking.
It was created by Ivan Dudnik, who had experienced homelessness and being undocumented.
Doobneek helps users track cash income, send money to family, plan for taxes and manage spending without linking a bank account or sharing personal data.
Doobneek is built for undocumented workers, asylum seekers and people who need strong financial privacy. It supports cash-based income, multi-currency tracking, reminders for rent and bills and security, encrypted storage.
The tool is free and designed to feel supportive. Users can also interact with an artificial intelligence assistant to better understand spending patterns and plans.
BetaNYC runs open data classes, an ambassador program and workshops that are open to the public.
The NYC PIT Pop-Up showed how technology can connect people, data and government in meaningful ways.
