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Seattle Information Technology

Thousands of Feet of Wire go into Setting up for the Seattle/King County Health Clinic

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Photo courtesy Auston James

Before the thousands of feet of wires are laid, before the laptops and PC’s are fired up, and before volunteers greet the thousands of people who will be given free medical and dental care, a small Seattle IT’s team has planned for months to bring reliable technology to Seattle’s KeyArena. The 5th annual Seattle/King County Health Clinic kicks off Thursday, September 20. For Seattle IT’s Stephen Burke, Kevin Tom, Geramy Wong, and Ivan Balbuena, the planning started in January.

Each year, the mission is the same: Create a dependable network of devices and internet connections that will be user-friendly for nurses, doctors, and other volunteers that staff the clinic.

“These are non-technical people,” said former End User Device Support Supervisor Eric Bell who has been part of the technology team in part years. “They don’t have time to troubleshoot through technical issues or to learn new systems. We have to simplify it for them.”

Photo courtesy Auston James

The clinic provides a full range of free dental, vision, and medical care to underserved and vulnerable populations in the region. The line starts forming the night before to be treated at this clinic each year. In 2017, more than 4,000 patients received just over $3.7 million in services. The clinic serves a racially diverse and economically disadvantaged patient population. For Seattle IT staff, who are on location for the entire four-day clinic, it feels like more than just a day’s work.

“It almost makes you want to cry to watch how important it is to these patients to get care,” Balbuena who is the end user device support manager. “For those who do not speak fluent English, being able to talk to someone in their own language is a big deal.”

The clinic provides in person and virtual interpreters. Last year, 51 primary languages were spoken.

The team is taking a new challenge at this year’s clinic. A new program will be used for dental x-ray machines. Seattle IT staff will be ready to support the new technology.

Photo courtesy Auston James

“It’s amazing how it all comes together each year,” said Bell. “Everybody is running around and busy and they all have great attitudes. All the volunteers are just happy to be part of the team that makes the clinic happen.”

Seattle IT provides 45 laptops and 25 PCs to the clinic. The team also builds the extensive internet network, including all the wiring, and connects all other technology devices like printers and medical equipment. Between planning, setup, and staffing, the team spends an estimated 500 hours on the clinic.

It’s a small but vital contribution to this great cause.

 

Benchmarking Success: Teens Succeed as Design Thinkers

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In a quiet corner of First Hill’s popular Frye Art Museum sits a beautiful bench that is not just for sitting, it has a story and is the focal point of a unique exhibit. The bench represents the brain child and months of work by an ambitious group of teenagers who set out to improve their design and digital literacy skills. The teens, ten high school students from Seattle’s Central District, signed up for a spring session in Yesler Community Center’s technology learning lab that ended with an exhibit opening at the Frye with their work as the main art piece.

In the Bench Mark exhibit that surrounds the bench there are rudimentary drawings of benches, each with a unique concept. There are also some doll-size mock-ups created from the drawings that show the evolution of the project and the thinking process of the teens. Some drawings incorporated modern touches including cell phone chargers and umbrella holsters. The official assignment was to research, design, and commission the making of a bench. The project gave them an opportunity to work with teaching artists and architects and take field trips to look at design in our urban environment.

“We visited benches and looked at architecture at the University of Washington, in Downtown Seattle, and at several parks in Seattle to get some ideas on design,” said Asfaha Lemlem who runs the program at Yesler Community Center.

Then the teens returned to the computer lab to learn more about the architecture of a bench and find inspiration for their design.

Tam Nguyen, a junior at Seattle Central College’s running start high school program, says the project opened his mind to what technology can be used for.

“The funnest part was putting together the 3D models of the benches,” said Nguyen. “I learned about the dimensions and design part of architecture.”

Practicality won out in the end with the final piece featuring a modern look referred to in the exhibit as urban simplicity. Nguyen offered some advice for anyone wanting to learn the technology behind design.

“Go crazy with ideas and push yourself when you brainstorm,” Nguyen said.

Many of the students have taken multiple digital skill-building workshops at the Yesler tech education lab, which has developed strong education and community engagement partnerships with the Frye, Seattle University, and others. Yesler is one of five “Rec Tech” digital equity and opportunity centers operated by the Associated Recreation Council in Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities. Seattle IT has been a major funder of the programs through our Community Technology Program digital equity grants. The mission of Rec Tech is to facilitate effective technology-driven programs providing education, recreation, and community development services for children, families, and neighborhoods.

Participants in this program are happy with their final project and proud of their new skills and contribution to the community. When the bench leaves the exhibit, it will be installed outdoors near the Yesler Community Center.

Learn more about the Bench Mark project or about the Associated Recreation Council’s RecTech program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Partnering to Improve Digital Services

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In July, Seattle IT’s Digital Services Usability and Design team partnered with Civic User Testing (CUT) to facilitate usability testing on the Seattle.gov web site. (Learn about the CUT group and volunteer with them at http://openseattle.org/cutgroup/#about).

The intended goal of the project was to understand if people were able to successfully navigate to popular City services on their mobile devices. The project team was hoping to create a list of design updates for its development team to implement, for example, changing navigation labels or interactions like tapping from the top navigation to page navigation.

PICTURED: SHELLY SMITH FROM THE USABILITY & DESIGN PROGRAM WITH CUT GROUP MEMBERS ROBERT RACADIO AND MEGAN BRUCE

Participants

Project leads chose to partner with the Seattle Housing Authority to include low-income Seattle residents. With guidance from Community Builder, Andy Chan, it was decided to facilitate a usability test on site at a subsidized housing building on First Hill to make participation easier.

Overall, 10 people participated, which was the target. Generally, usability testing is aimed at collecting qualitative insights to drive design, not numbers. Typically, it takes about five people to find most usability issues. (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-many-test-users/)

Participants used their own mobile phones to navigate to Seattle.gov and complete some common tasks like paying a parking ticket, finding community classes, and reporting garbage.

What they learned

While the team did learn a few things to improve the site navigation and terminology, they also learned about their own digital biases. There are many digital conventions that they take for granted that are still not ubiquitous to some user groups.

  1. The group of people they interviewed had a different digital vocabulary. Some participants did not regularly use the words “web page” or “browser” so the language was quickly changed to be more generic.
  2. Mobile “hamburger” menus are debated widely in the design community. The test confirmed this group of users were not familiar with it. They mostly used the apps on their phones that were installed by the manufacturers or heard about from friends or family from word of mouth.
  3. The CUT group were the main organizers and they compensated participants with Visa gift cards. The paradigm of activating the gift cards were also not well understood.
  4. Many participants did not know how to pinch and zoom.
  5. Based on the City’s 2014 Community Technology report, low-income users are twice as likely as other groups to have smartphone-only internet access. However, some participants had free phones provided by government services that they were hesitant to use based on bandwidth and limited data plans. While Seattle is a tech hub and many residents expect to complete many services online, there are residents that still need basic digital education and access.

PICTURED: FREE PHONE PROVIDED THROUGH ASSURANCE WIRELESS

Next Steps

The team will use what they learned about navigation and terminology to update the web site. They will be iterating with the Digital Services development team soon on a mobile-first navigation that is simpler and more obvious to use.

The team will also continue to learn firsthand about the needs of residents to improve the web sites and apps and usability test with them to understand if  digital properties can be improved.

Volunteers needed to test upcoming projects!

Sign up to give feedback on upcoming iterations. The team is looking for a diverse mix of people across the city to test digital experiences or participate in design research. Typically, participation is about an hour of your time.

Sign-up to become a usability tester.

About the Usability and Design team

Usability and Design is a small, but mighty new program within the Digital Services Team in Seattle IT. The team’s goal is twofold:

  1. Coach City staff on designing and maintaining public web experiences to support City services
  2. Create inclusive digital experiences by practicing human-centered design and usability testing

The team depends on partners to reach intended audiences and to help extend usability testing and design research capabilities.

Written by Beverly Slabosky, Usability Lead

The City of Seattle Awards $400,000 to Help Improve Digital Equity

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Photo courtesy YouthCare, a 2018 recipient

 The Technology Matching Fund grants will be offered for the 21st year in a row to organizations in Seattle working on improving lives through technology literacy

The Seattle City Council unanimously approved $400,000 in Technology Matching Funds be awarded to 12 local organizations. These grants are given out annually to uphold the commitment by the City of Seattle as outlined in the Digital Equity Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to improve connectivity, digital skills training, and provide devices, and technology support to communities that might not have equitable access.

“Furthering technology equity and access is an important way to create opportunity for historically underserved neighborhoods,” said Mayor Jenny A. Durkan. “These investments allow our communities to capitalize on technology and job training while making a more inclusive city.”

This year, projects receiving funds will support a broad range of community-driven, collaborative solutions to achieve digital equity in Seattle. They will reach over 8,300 residents, including immigrants, refugees, seniors, youth, and people with disabilities.

“It’s a pleasure to be part of this process each year as we build this relationship with organizations that are making a difference in making technology more available to everyone,” said Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell. “We inch closer to digital equity each year when we allocate this funding. I’m especially pleased to see this funding package emphasizes programs that work with adults and youths experiencing homelessness.”

One recipient is YouthCare which will use their award of $49,940 to help young people experiencing homelessness with their employment and education goals.

“YouthCare is excited for this opportunity to use technology to help young people experiencing homelessness achieve their employment and education goals,” said Development and Communications Manager Jody Waits. “Lack of access to technology can be a significant barrier that homeless young people must navigate, and overcome, in their path to stability. This grant will allow YouthCare to bridge the digital equity gap so that homeless young people can have the tools and skills to get off the streets and find lasting career opportunities.”

City funding for the awards is matched by the community through additional cash, donations of hardware, software, supplies and labor. A one-half to one match is required of each organization receiving funding; however, the community contribution is often greater than the City’s support. This year’s projects are projected to provide more than $300,000 in community matching resources.

“It’s a pleasure to award these grants that help build vital skills like job hunting, helping kids with homework, and accessing government services,” said Tracye Cantrell, Acting Director of Seattle Information Technology. “Through increased outreach to the community, we saw a greater number of submissions this year from a diverse pool of applicants, which is exciting.”

Literacy Source received $32, 379 will expand their digital literacy classes to serve more adults with limited English proficiency.
“We’re thrilled to receive this grant to continue our work improving the literacy skills of the community we serve,” said Literacy Source Executive Director Lynn Livesley. “Developing these skills is critical to the personal growth of an individual and to the community’s overall economic outlook.”

The 2018 Technology Matching Fund award recipients and their projects:

  • Community Passageways: Technology Equity for Young Adults of Color
  • East African Community Services: 2018 Technology Matching Fund
  • Garinagu HounGua: Garifuna Digital Literacy Workshop Series
  • Helping Link: Mobile Computer and iPad Literacy Lab
  • Literacy Source: Open Doors – Increasing Basic Digital Literacy
  • Millionair Club Charity: Computer Lab Expansion/Update
  • PROVAIL: Adaptive Technology for Children with Disabilities
  • Seattle Neighborhood Group: Building Our Bridge: Crossing the Digital Divide
  • Somali Family Safety Task Force: 2018 Digital Literacy in West Seattle
  • South East Effective Development: Technology Builds Community
  • United Indians of All Tribes Foundation: Broadband and Public Computer/Internet Access
  • YouthCare: Employment Technology Supports for Homeless Youth (pictured above)

Photo courtesy YouthCare, a 2018 recipient

 

To learn more about the City of Seattle’s commitment to Digital Equity and the Technology Matching Fund, visit http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/digital-equity/technology-matching-fund.

Mayor Durkan Creates Innovation Advisory Council

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Mayor Durkan signed an Executive Order creating the City of Seattle’s first-ever Innovation Advisory Council (IAC) to harness the power of technology to create innovative strategies and solutions to the most urgent challenges facing Seattle and our region – from homelessness to transportation. Find the full press release here. Watch the full press conference on the Seattle Channel.

Some key things to know about the announcement:

  • Mayor Durkan is bringing together some of our region’s most innovative companies and organizations to address the City’s most urgent challenges – from homelessness to transportation.

Seattle has always invented the future, and we have some of the world’s most innovative companies right in our backyard.

Smart cities harness the power of technology and innovation in their community – and that’s exactly what Seattle is doing.

From homelessness to transportation to affordability, we need shared solutions that bring government, business, labor, philanthropy, and communities to the table. Initial commitments for the IAC by Amazon, Artefact Group, Expedia Group, Flying Fish, Microsoft, Tableau, Washington Technology Industry Association and Zillow Group.

The council will identify opportunities where technology and data can be used to help Seattle improve its processes.

Provide feedback on the City of Seattle’s website!

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The City of Seattle’s Digital Services Team is looking for the public’s help. The team members who work to maintain Seattle.gov are looking to make some improvements and need feedback from the people who use the site. Seattle.gov is where the public logs on to pay bills, look for services, and access City data, among other things. The team wants to improve the search function within Seattle.gov and they need a few volunteers to help with this process.

What will volunteers be doing?  

  • Volunteers will be asked to conduct a few web searches on Seattle.gov and give feedback on the results they see. It will take approximately 30 minutes.
  • Volunteers will also have the option to sign up to participate in future Seattle.gov tests to improve the features and usability for everyone on this site.

Who is eligible to participate?  

Eligible participants:

  • Must live in Seattle
  • Are over the age of 18
  • Have searched for information on the internet
  • Speak English
  • People with disabilities are encouraged to participate

Where will this take place? 

The team will coordinate to meet participants at a public location of their convenience (for example, a library or community center) through July and August. The team is hoping to complete sessions by the end of August.

How to sign up? 

It takes about two minutes to sign up with basic contact information. Visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VWWQVPP or email usability@seattle.gov with your name and the best way to get in contact with you.

Congratulations to the Seattle Channel for Winning Four NW Emmy Awards

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Seattle Channel is the recipient of four Northwest Regional Emmy Awards for public-affairs, arts and environmental programming and an interview special. The winning programs covered topics ranging from safe injection sites to a tribute to the vinyl music format.

The city-operated station was recognized Saturday, June 9, at the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Arts & Sciences’ (NATAS) Emmy Awards ceremony.

“From City Hall to Seattle’s vibrant neighborhoods, the Seattle Channel is a cornerstone for civic engagement,” said Mayor Jenny Durkan. “We are fortunate to have a station that provides in-depth coverage of our city and diverse communities, people and places, and that offers residents an opportunity to stay informed and engaged. I congratulate the team for this recognition, and on its dedication to excellence in local programming.”

Seattle Channel won in the public affairs program/special category for a City Inside/Out episode exploring the controversy around safe injection sites where addicts can use illegal drugs under supervision. Individuals recognized for the coverage were host and producer Brian Callanan, producer Susan Han and photographer/editor Matt Peterson.

Ian Devier, producer/photographer/editor, won in the environmental feature category for a CityStream segment on Nube 9, a local company that makes athletic wear from recycled plastic bottles.

Art Zone with Nancy Guppy won in the arts/entertainment special category for a show dedicated to the vinyl music format – from its history to life-changing record stories. Individuals recognized for the special were host and senior producer Nancy Guppy, producer Sheila Mullen, director and photographer Vincent Pierce and editor Peggy Lycett.

Art Zone with Nancy Guppy also won in the interview/discussion special category for an in-depth interview with Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. Individuals recognized for the special were host and senior producer Nancy Guppy, producer/photographer/editor Ralph Bevins and photographer/editor Peggy Lycett.

“Through its in-depth and inclusive programming, Seattle Channel reflects the city’s commitment to public engagement and transparency,” said Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell, chair of the Governance, Equity & Technology Committee. “From public policy to community features, I applaud the station for its commitment to feature a variety of voices and perspectives.”

In the 55th annual Northwest Emmy’s, Seattle Channel competed against commercial and public television stations in the Northwest NATAS five-state region which includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. This year, the station received 12 Emmy-Award nominations in program categories including health/science, public-affairs feature, informational segment, politics/government special, editing and reporting.

“Seattle Channel is committed to producing quality content with depth and impact,” said Shannon Gee, Seattle Channel’s interim general manager. “Our public-affairs programs spark informed civic dialogue, and our arts features and community segments entertain and inspire. I’m honored to work with a team dedicated to sharing a variety of engaging programs with the residents of Seattle.”

Seattle Channel is a local TV station that reflects, informs and inspires the community it serves. Seattle Channel presents programs on cable television – channel 21 on Comcast (321 HD), Wave (721 HD) and 8003 on CenturyLink (8503 HD) – and via the internet to help residents connect with their city. Programming includes series and special features highlighting the diverse civic and cultural landscape.

Government Hackathon: Seattle IT Contributes to Winning Project

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When King County Information Technology (KCIT) teamed up with Amazon Web Services to put on a Government Hackfest last month, Seattle Information Technology (Seattle IT) employees were all in. The challenge of the Hackfest was to develop government solutions using digital assistants, artificial intelligence, business intelligence, and big data technologies within the Amazon Web Services ecosystem.

The first of three teams, which included Lawrence Yu, Brandon Ha, Jim Thurnau, and Kenneth Wong analyzed house and structure fires in Seattle to determine if the age of each structure had any correlation with the fire.

“We used Seattle’s Open Data Portal to gather data including 911 calls and when the property was built,” said Brandon Ha, a senior software application developer in Applications. “We used Tableau to map it out.”

“It was like the data version of iron chef,” said Kenneth Wong, a senior business analyst in Applications. “You had the ingredients and had to determine what to cook in a short amount of time.”

Their team did find that older homes, especially those built in the late 90’s, had more tendency to catch on fire.

The team of Steve Weston, Tom Puskas, Tuan Vuong, and Rufi Mallick produced an Alexa skill to provide information on scheduled events called “Event Tracker” at the Seattle Center. The team used Amazon Web Services Lambda, the Alexa skill, and an existing public web service.

This project is being developed by Slalom and will be made available to the public later in the summer. Here’s an example of what the skill will allow you to ask:

“Hey Alexa, …. “
“Tell me what is going on is Seattle Center today, Tomorrow or the weekend”
“Tell me when is Paul Simon playing next”
“Which events are for Children”

The winning team, which included members of KCIT including Kam Suen, Mike Jeppesen, and Dale Brandenstein, as well as Seattle IT’s Jeffrey Stewart. The team produced an Alexa skill to provide available parking spaces at the City’s e-Park garages. They used Lambda function, as well as data from the City’s public facing internet site.

“We didn’t create new data; but rather, we equipped a digital assistant with that data,” said Jeff Stewart, cross platform services manager in Applications.  “This enables people to get to the data faster from their hand’s free mobile assistant while en route downtown.”

Here’s how the Seattle Center Parking App will work: Instead of going to the Seattle Center Website, you can ask Alexa the following:

“Hey Alexa, ask Seattle e-Park about Pike Place garage?” …Pike Place garage currently has 347 parking spaces available.
“Ask Seattle e-Park where is Pike Place?”  …Pike Place garage is located at 1531 Western Ave.
“Ask Seattle e-Park what is near Pike Place?”  …Convention Center, PSP Cobb,…

All who participated say it was a good, but grueling experience and a great way to network with government employees who are in the same field.

Digital Inclusion Week: Our Efforts, Our Passion

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During the week of May 7-11, 2018, Seattle Information Technology joined 300 affiliated organizations in 38 states for a nationwide online event to recognize Digital Inclusion Week. The purpose is to amplify the message that all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, need equitable access to use the internet. We know digital inclusion requires intentional strategies and investments to reduce and eliminate historical, institutional, and structural barriers to access and use technology. The work to attain these goals is outlined in the City’s Digital Equity Initiative.

During this week we have used social media to amplify the message of digital inclusion week:

Our Twitter handle came alive with the faces of Seattle IT staff who are passionate about #DigitalEquityIs

  • Our Facebook page also helped call attention to the importance of digital equity

We were honored to have Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan write a guest post on our Tech Talk blog where she talked about Seattle’s long history of leading the way on digital innovation. She also humbly acknowledged that not everyone in our city has benefitted from the technological revolution. She discussed the challenges for many of finding a job online, having access to the internet, or helping their children with online homework when access to the internet, technology, and devices are a challenge. She also highlighted the City’s efforts to close the digital divide in Seattle.

Community Technology Manager Chance Hunt blogged about the problem of being “Under Connected.” Although 93% of Seattleites have the internet, not all have strong data or speed. Some have cost barriers, insufficient devices, and don’t have the tech support. The post outlined solutions and the work Seattle is doing to improve digital equity.

It’s been an enjoyable and successful week. We were happy to highlight our Seattle IT employees and share their feelings on digital equity. We look forward sharing even more next year!

To sign up for future announcements on about our Digital Equity program, join our listserv featured on our Digital Equity page.

The Problem with Being Under-connected

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Guest blog by Community Technology Manager Chance Hunt

*under-connected = limited data or speed, cost barriers, or insufficient devices, tech support or skills

It’s Digital Inclusion Week! Every Seattle resident should have the technologies they need to participate fully in society. Whether they are looking for a job, connecting to family and friends, doing homework, or accessing government services.

According to the 2016 American Communities Survey 93% of Seattle residents have internet at home. However, this does not mean that all residents can afford a level of access or online speeds that meet their needs. Fully 7%, or 50,000 residents, either have no internet connection at home at all or are reliant on cell phone data plans to get online. Taken together, we are seeing a situation where Seattle residents are “under-connected.”

National studies have found a link between home broadband internet adoption and educational success, greater household income, and improved access to government and health resources. This is especially true for vulnerable populations including low-income residents, limited-English speakers, seniors and people with disabilities.

Low-income people are more likely to use a smart phone to create resume and cover letter. These “smartphone only” job seekers report problems entering a large amount of text on their smartphone while searching for a job. They also say they have problems submitting required files or other supporting documents needed to apply for a job

Many low-income parents with home internet access report that their connection is too slow to do the things they wish to do online, especially homework requiring streaming. Households that share a single computer or had their internet cut off due to non-payment puts their students at a disadvantage.

Solutions to address these issues are being found right here in Seattle. In 2017, City of Seattle investments, coupled with private and non-profit support, resulted in:

  • Over 1.9 Million people accessed public Wi-Fi connections at 27 libraries, 29 community centers and other public buildings
  • Broadband internet for non-profit organizations: 314 community sites received free cable broadband service through Comcast and Wave Broadband (valued at $376K)
  • 2,922 residents received digital skills training through City of Seattle investments in community organizations.
  • 6,584 internet “hot spots” were checked out from The Seattle Public LibrarySo, as we celebrate Digital Inclusion Week in 2018, we will continue to seek out solutions to get everyone online in Seattle. Working together as a community we will get people connected, get them the computer devices they need, and offer support for the skills necessary to be successful in life.