Local startup mySidewalk has been selected for the Opportunity Project, a White House effort to make government data more accessible to individual citizens and communities.

The mySidewalk team has created a software solution that makes it easy to analyze and understand data. Thanks to the Opportunity Project, the startup will help the U.S. Department of Transportation to share its information with community leaders across the country. And with the Office of the Surgeon General, mySidewalk will collaborate on a project focused on the emotional well-being of communities.

“Data can be used to improve our lives, but there is often a chasm between the availability of federal data and the ability of local communities to make sense of that information,” said Stephen Hardy, chief operating officer at mySidewalk. “Making data useful is our mission as a company—which is why we were so excited when the White House invited us to participate in this program.”

The Opportunity Project’s mission is to promote digital tools that help citizens and communities to dig into open data created by the federal government.

“The Opportunity Project is about unleashing the power of data to solve some of the toughest challenges our communities face, things like helping Americans build skills and find jobs, increasing transit options in low-income neighborhoods, and helping families navigate information on the quality of schools,” said DJ Patil, the United States’ chief data scientist.

“The 29 tools being released today, built by the organizations participating in The Opportunity Project, are the newest additions to the growing ecosystem of digital tools using open data and modern technologies to try and tackle big problems head on.”