Connecting Communities

Institution: Carleton University

CSWB plan priority / Ottawa's 2023-2026 Term of Council priority: Integrated and simpler systems

Project Term: Winter 2025

Course Code: BUSI4414

Professor(s): Robert Helal

Group Member(s): Quinn Cunnane, Ben Morissette, Omar Hassano

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Objective(s): Our solution is designed to address these challenges by providing a centralized, data-driven platform that enhances decision-making for city officials, program managers, and the general public. One of our primary objectives is to reduce the time, effort, and resources spent on gathering data from multiple sources, allowing city officials to make more informed and strategic decisions. By offering real-time insights into participation rates and recreational activity availability, our platform ensures that resource allocation is both effective and impactful. Another key objective is to foster youth engagement by expanding access to creative and productive outlets. By providing detailed insights into available programs, we aim to increase participation and offer young individuals structured opportunities that support their personal and professional growth while reducing the risk of crime. For program managers, our goal is to equip them with data-driven tools that help them design and refine recreational offerings based on community needs. By analyzing participation trends, they can ensure that programs are tailored to maximize engagement and impact. Lastly, we seek to support families by improving access to before- and after-school care options. By creating a user-friendly platform where parents can easily find childcare and recreational activities, we aim to simplify decision-making and provide solutions that cater to the diverse needs of the community.

Potential for Impact: The potential for impact in both the short-term and long-term for Connect Communities is high. Connecting Communities can address key gaps in accessibility, efficiency, and community engagement.

In the immediate future, Connect Communities will make the process of finding and researching community centers in Ottawa easier. In turn this will save citizens valuable time and effort. Currently, citizens must navigate multiple sources to locate relevant information on available programs, facilities, and schedules. By offering a centralized hub, this application will reduce frustration, improve accessibility, and enhance user experience for those seeking community services. Additionally, it will help lower costs by minimizing redundant searches and allowing users to efficiently find programs suited to their interests.

In the long run, Connect Communities has the potential to foster a more engaged and connected community by increasing participation in local programs. This can be done by creating more diverse activities, our preliminary findings have shown a lack of non sports related activities at most of these community centers. By highlighting this gap, Connect Communities aims to advocate for and facilitate the expansion of arts, cultural, and educational programs in Ottawa’s community centers, ensuring that our community centers represent the diverse community it serves.

Ultimately, this application will contribute to more inclusive, and well-rounded community centres, that facilitate growth and ultimately connect communities.