Qwhery is happy to announce that we were named the recipient of the Open Data for Impact Award by the Canadian Open Data Society, a national nonprofit organization that represents open data supporters promoting and supporting open data initiatives across Canada.
Canadian Open Data Awards
The Canadian Open Data Awards were created by the hosts of the Canadian Open Data Summit in 2016 to acknowledge and celebrate excellence in open data across Canada. Due to COVID-19, it had been 2 and a half years since the last call for nominations.
The 2021 Canadian Open Data Society awarded eight prizes, with the five main categories being honour achievements in accessibility, innovation, democracy, impact, and data quality.
Impact Award
Qwhery Inc. was awarded the Open Data Award for Impact for our “innovative, accessible, impactful approach” in using our platform to handle COVID-19 data and information.
When the pandemic began, Qwhery collaborated with Concordia University and the Institute for Investigative Journalism. As a result, Qwhery put forth a platform for staff and students to capture COVID-19 data through open data sources. The data was then able to be shared across the country to news agencies.
Furthermore, through a partnership with SaFuture, a second major initiative to provide COVID-19 case data through text messages, with daily or weekly updates, was developed.
This information can also be accessed by anyone with an Alexa enabled device, by saying, “Alexa, ask Q One One how many COVID-19 cases are in my area?” – curating authoritative data in context to the user’s location, instantly, accessed openly via John Hopkins University in the United States and Esri Canada on behalf of Health Regions across Canada. Qwhery sends over 125 text messages every day since May, 2021, and over 150 weekly texts to users, all for no cost to them.