The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced $3.2 million in funding to 17 projects for the Knight News Challenge on Data. According to a press release, the winners “reveal how people can use data to make important decisions about their lives and their communities.”
The winners highlight data as an essential element in addressing community challenges and opening opportunities for learning and innovation. They address issues from police misconduct and digital privacy, to expanding access to public benefits, to improving data literacy and making it easier to find and use public information. Eight of the winners will receive investments of $237,589 to $470,000 each, while nine early-stage ideas will receive $35,000 each through the Knight Prototype Fund, which helps innovators take media and information projects from idea to demo.
The projects include a “FOIA Mapper” out of New York, “PublicBits: Breaking Down Open Data Silos” out of California, “Legislation Tracker: Beyond the Bills,” out of New Jersey, and “All the Places Personal Data Goes,” from Harvard. To see them all, you can view the full release here.
