Neighborhood Allies has continued its partnership with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) on Project HOPE, a new software-based application tool to measure and track hope in our communities! This summer, six Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) students are working as a team to enhance the Project HOPE prototype through MSIT’s E-business Practicum program, led by Michael I. (Mike) Shamos, Ph.D., J.D., a Distinguished Career Professor and Intellectual Property Attorney.

By the end of the Practicum, Neighborhood Allies will receive an IT solution that will be able to collect required data from people and statistical sources relating to hope, process resulting data by applying the methodology from the previous phase “Measuring Hope,” and present findings on a rich visualization interface. As an extra incentive for the student teams, the final product will be presented to and judged by an independent panel of outside eBusiness experts. Each team is rated on the effectiveness of their project solution and the quality of their presentation. The winning team receives a cash prize of $10,000 from CMU.

For additional background on Project HOPE, please visit: Project HOPE Update! & From Despair to Hope: How Do We Measure It?  Or contact Shad Henderson at shad@neighborhoodallies.org.