Who Can Use the ONS?

I am a…

Funding Decision Maker

As a maker of decisions related to the funding of community health and social service organization, I want ONS to enable me to:

  • Use the maps and charts to compare neighbourhoods on indicators of interest and to identify priorities for change.
  • Identify neighbourhoods of interest, examine their profiles and see how they compare to the city average on key indicators.
  • Compare neighbourhood data over time and between datasets to determine which neighbourhoods would benefit from particular amenities or targeted investments in resources and services.
  • Review the before and after impact of a potential investment so that I select the best place to direct resources.

Service Provider Professional

As a public health planner, I want to be able to…

  • Compare neighbourhoods on health status and health behaviours of residents, and on the determinants of health in order to identify priorities for programs and services.
  • View changes in health needs, determinants of health, population demographics, and health services in and across neighbourhoods so I can recommend where future investment should go.

As a provider of community health, recreation or social services, I want to be able to…

  • Compare neighbourhoods on health status and health behaviours of residents, and on the determinants of health in order to identify priorities for programs and services.
  • Compare neighbourhoods on recreational resiources, social services, food resources, and health services in order to identify gaps in service.

Government Planner

As a planner at the federal, provincial or municipal government, I would like ONS to enable me to easily do the following:

  • Contribute statistical data to the project to ensure that information remains current.
  • Contribute statistical data to the project when new data points are available that can strengthen our understanding of the social and economic determinants of health in Ottawa neighbourhoods..
  • Identify where data is missing or misleading so that this can be corrected in a timely fashion.

Citizen

As a citizen, my expectations for ONS are complex; sometimes I’m a “seeker” and sometimes I’m a “contributor”.

Seekers

As a citizen seeker, I could be a current or future resident, a business person, or a community activist – or all of the above. Typically, I will want to research only one neighbourhood at a time, or compare the attributes of two or more neighbourhoods of particular interest.

As a seeker, I need to be able to:

  • Find updated information about a particular neighbourhood via emailed message or via the social media tool of my choice.
  • Post comments and questions to the ONS forum for other users to see and discuss via hosted newsgroups on the website.
  • Post comments and questions to the ONS forum for other users to see and comment on via the ONS mobile app.
  • Upload information and photos to the ONS website using a desktop application or the ONS Mobile application.

As a future resident, I would like to be able to review a summary description of a neighbourhood to see if it is a good fit for my family before beginning to search for a new home. I would like to look at emerging trends, such as changes in access to recreation facilities, schools, etc., crime rates, or the availability of healthier food sources.

As a current resident, I already have a sense of the strengths and challenges of my neighbourhood so I want ONS to help me understand changes over time, both improvements and setbacks in what makes the neighbourhood a great place for me to live, work and play.

As a citizen-blogger, I want basic facts about my neighbourhood, for example the distance to the closest library, community garden, or other local service.

As a business owner, I want to be able to:

  • Examine the profile for a specific neighbourhood to determine whether it supports my business development plan for a current or new location.
  • Predict how the neighbourhood is changing so I can adjust my business plans accordingly.
  • Research another neighbourhood with a similar profile to determine whether opening another location with the same or different services will be a profitable investment.
  • Upload information and photos to the ONS website using a desktop application or the ONS Mobile application.

Contributors

Citizen contributors want to be able to easily post comments, ask questions, or upload events to the ONS website in order to add new or expanded knowledge about the neighbourhoods. Although they may not necessarily have extended data sets to contribute, but they have knowledge of neighbourhood history and geography and know what makes neighbourhoods livable. Typically, they have a particular focus on one or two contiguous neighbourhoods. Citizen contributors include neighbourhood activists and community leaders.

As a neighbourhood activist and a leader in my community, I want to be able to:

  • Know how my neighbourhood compares to City averages as I prepare to make a presentation to opinion leaders and decision makers in community agencies and various levels of government.
  • View all information visually (in maps or charts) or as numbers (in understandable tables) and be able to download this information for use in my presentations.
  • Post community events to the website for other users to see when they access the ONS website.
  • Post community events to the website which are distributed using various social media tools.
  • Upload information and photos to the ONS website using a desktop application or the ONS Mobile application.