OpenRoad + Mod7

Two pioneering organizations, together at last.

OpenRoad is pleased to announce the acquisition of creative agency Mod7.

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OpenRoad is pleased to announce the acquisition of creative agency Mod7. Read the letter from our Principal.

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Apps for Change: "5 Eco-Friendly Apps That Could Change City Living"

Posted on July 03, 2012 in Design by Mod7

NYC's Sustainability Hackathon


We love the DIY, lo-fi, high-tech thinking on display at this sustainability-focused hackathon! By using some of our favorite technologies—location based services, mobile, and social graph applications—the top five apps are creatively empowering people to positively impact and change their city.
  • GreenCan : Locate the nearest public recycling trash can. I sure could have used this on my recent trip to NYC, where they seem to lack access to those public recycling slots we have in Vancouver.
  • Bike Pooling : Connect with others to form "car pools" for bikers.
  • FreshFixNYC : Connect with local green farmers. This one we like because it's similar to a mod7 project with Food Network Canada in 2009, where we built a web-based app for the 100 Mile Challenge.
  • ReBounty : Find those unwanted treasures before they hit the curb.
  • Green, Greener, Greenest : Neighbourhoods compete to see who's the greenest. We call it the gamification of civic pride.

Why we think this is interesting


These apps are data-driven, using raw, publicly-accessible (in most cases) data to create new experiences by re-contextualizing relevant information. Like a game or simulation, it's effective interactive storytelling when the actors are given agency to impact the data, form their own narrative, and repeat. These apps use a simple concept, "real-world" data, and feedback loops—all in combination to effect "real-world" change.

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