In a 2014 report, the White House noted the immense potential of information available in large, public datasets to improve people’s lives. But these data are far too complex to use unless they’re filtered, curated, and presented in way that’s easy to grasp. To that end, the White House just kicked off its Opportunity Project, which offers several user-friendly data-based tools to help Americans gain knowledge they need to climb the economic ladder.

“Using this data, we can put transit stops where they’re needed, draw school boundaries more inclusively, invest in long-neglected sidewalks and streets, and ensure that all cities working on fair housing are investing their resources in closing opportunity gaps,” Luke Tate, the special assistant to the president on economic mobility, said at the project’s launch on Monday. “The Opportunity Project is about moving from information to action.”

The project currently offers 12 new tools, put together with the help of private companies and non-profits using federal and local data on jobs, housing, transportation, education, and demographics. Individuals, families, community leaders and organizations, and local governments can use these resources to “improve economic mobility for all Americans,” the White House fact sheet on the initiative says.

[For more of this story, written by Tanvi Misra, go to http://www.citylab.com/tech/20...mic-mobility/472635/]