One Year of Data for Change: Celebrating the First Anniversary of Picket by X-Mode.
One year ago, a small but dedicated team at X-Mode set about to change the way the world views location data.
By Joseph Green
X-Mode is proud to announce the one year anniversary of Picket, our Data for Social Impact Initiative. One year in, Picket has made considerable strides in realizing our vision of using great technology to make the world a better place. While we still have a lot of growth in our future, this one year milestone is a perfect time to celebrate all we have accomplished so far.
In early 2019, a small dedicated team at X-Mode started working on Picket based on a simple idea: that no technology, no matter how advanced, can truly be called “great” unless it works for the good of all people. X-Mode, they reasoned, already had the highest quality location data in the industry; the next step was to use that data to empower causes that work for the betterment of our world.
It took some time for the team to develop a clear vision for Picket. In a world facing so many critical issues, it was important to determine how we could do the most good with the resources at our disposal. Finding Picket’s modus operandi also meant interrogating the values at the very heart of X-Mode. These values, we soon found, were: privacy; transparency; and a focus on solutions that were both innovative and pragmatic.
Once these values came into focus, so too did Picket’s mission statement. By delivering high-quality, privacy-conscious location data to cause-driven nonprofits and research institutions, the Picket Initiative would help to build a more equitable and sustainable future. With this mission statement in mind, and with a web page built by our talented design team, Picket was ready to go.
The team approached Picket’s launch in a deliberate, patient manner. We exhaustively researched what causes could benefit the most from free access to location data. We identified activist and research institutions that we knew would have the proper tools to best utilize our data. We then began the process of outreach, all the while honing our brand and perfecting our messaging.
In the last year, Picket has transformed from an ambitious dream to a viable and indispensable part of X-Mode’s identity. We have partnered with researchers and academics at different universities, culminating in, among other results, a groundbreaking study on how to improve ambulance dispatching following a natural disaster. We have also begun to collaborate with multiple nonprofit organizations in the fight against human trafficking. Our work with the Anti Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative around the Miami Superbowl will be discussed more in future blog posts.
Picket is certainly a long way off from what we believe it could be. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to reform this industry from the inside, and to help all people recognize high quality location data as tool that can be used to benefit the world. We have a lot of exciting developments coming up with Picket in 2020. We can’t wait to share them with you.
To learn more about Picket, or to discover how your organization can benefit from free location data for good, head over to the Picket web page today! For any more questions about X-Mode, check out our contact form.
