New Website to Provide Neighbourhood Data to Ottawa Residents and Local Groups

On September 12, the award-winning Ottawa Neighbourhood Study (ONS) will launch its new and interactive website and smartphone app. The ONS, the first of its kind in the world, is a comprehensive database that profiles Ottawa’s 108 neighbourhoods using more than 100 indicators to map the health and well-being of residents and the community.  The new website is the result of months of work by the ONS partnership. IBM provided financial, technological and employee support.

“The goal of the website is to make the data from the study easily accessible to policymakers, governments, service providers and other community organizations to improve programming and help address the identified needs of Ottawa residents,” said Elizabeth Kristjansson, University of Ottawa professor of psychology and lead investigator of the study. “Using the study data, we can truly examine social challenges at a community level, and help shape decision-making and future initiatives.”

The ONS is a collaborative project that began in 2005, undertaken by University of Ottawa, Ottawa Public Health and the City of Ottawa, Carleton University, United Way Ottawa, the Champlain Local Health Integration Network and other community-based partners.

The neighbourhood profiles are a rich data source for users looking for information on a variety of topics, including the location of parks and recreation, mass transportation, food resources, health resources, education and culture hubs. Government departments such as Ottawa Public Health and community groups such as the Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres of Ottawa often use this data.

The ONS partners believe the new site, with its user-friendly interface, will attract more organizations to more readily access the data.  The newly available app will also allow the general public to contribute information about their communities which will also enhance data available to users.

“In the past, it was more difficult to access data from the ONS, or to review it in a meaningful way,” Kristjansson said.  “The new website will incorporate visual tools, and allow users to conduct their own analysis and obtain data in ways that are most useful to them.”

The ONS is the recipient of the 2012 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Partnership Award.

The URL for the website will be made publicly available when the website launches on September 12.

For more information,  contact David Hole, ONS Coordinator: (613) 816-0180; david@communitas-consulting.com