This week, our group incorporated feedback from Param Singh and Professor Darwin into both our presentation as well as our core product. The short presentation to the panel was very informative, because we received a lot of very pertinent feedback. While our main ideas were not conveyed correctly, we learned that:

1. We need to define our vision and value add more clearly
2. We need to convey this in our presentation through very easy to follow logical steps
3. We need to develop a technology that is larger-impacting than just an “Amber Alert”

Taking these ideas, some members of our group met with Professor Darwin on Friday. During that meeting, we discussed Param’s thoughts and misinterpretations of our group idea and group dynamic. We were able to clear that up with Professor Darwin, and realigned visions with Param through an email. During the group meeting, Professor Darwin guided the group on focussing our core technology into a holistic platform. Our new product is very similar to our old idea, but with a few major changes:

1. Our core technology is no longer the media (dashboard or amber alert) – it is now the platform. It is how we combine crowdsourced data with historic trends with IoT
2. Our Amber Alert is still a major component, but it is merely one vector: how the data comes to the citizen
3. The dashboard will remain, but it is also just one vector of communication: how the citizen goes to the data

The changes were a group decision that were guided by Param’s introduction to sfdata.org, an API that allows anyone to access SF’s city data, as well as by Professor Darwin’s inspiring idea of making every citizen a sensor by utilizing the ubiquitous smartphone phenomenon.

This week, we will focus on developing a clear and convincing storyline that will be our presentation.

The Safety and Security Group

Ted Xiao, Russell Nibbelink, Kaitlen Nguyen, Alex Feibleman, Dzmitry Yahorau