For the past eight years, a local nonprofit called enFocus has brought young technical talent to northern Indiana with the aim of tackling a wide variety of civic projects.
Fellows from enFocus have worked on about 150 projects involving local governments, schools and nonprofit organizations. Their fingerprints are on many initiatives: a ride-sharing program aimed at helping people with transportation issues get to work, pavement temperature sensors that give real-time information on where to place salt and brine during the winter, and a new community paramedic program to reduce the number of persistent emergency calls.
As a result of early enFocus projects, South Bend created a Department of Innovation and Technology to continue working on new ways to solve problems. And enFocus has continued to expand its reach.