Smartphones could transform our response to homelessness

[Commentary] At a time when technology is disrupting so many aspects of our lives, from the way we communicate to the way we get around, our approaches to homelessness remain stubbornly resistant to change. Indeed, in San Francisco (CA) — home to some of the most forward-looking innovators in the world — a disturbing number of people still sleep on the streets. This resistance to change has taken a major human toll, but fortunately, there is a cheap tool that could turn the tide: the smartphone.

Smartphones offer a way to bridge the gap between the needs of the homeless and the services that are available to them. Imagine if every homeless person had a smartphone, and he or she provided daily data on his or her health, happiness, income, family connections, use of services, and where he or she slept each night. And now imagine that a team of researchers, data scientists, and formerly homeless people had real-time access to that data. These researchers could try delivering all sorts of interventions to individuals via their smartphones — for example, cash deposits in online bank accounts for taking positive actions, or referrals to particular service providers. The team could then track the results in real time using the data they receive. And as they learned what interventions work best for which people, they could be charged with actually implementing and refining them as people’s situations change and as they tested even more innovative ideas.