Guilfoil credits Jimmy Carter with emphasizing the Atlanta Project's reliance on technology. He can log in from Plains and has really become adept at our advanced operating system. One of the most interesting applications of technology to the Project's decision-making process involves software called Team Focus. Developed by IBM, the software facilitates electronic meetings that permit participants to express themselves freely and anonymously. The program allows simultaneous entry of information, giving each participant an equal voice.
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The objectives of the Atlanta Project would be virtually impossible to achieve without using computer technology to manage scores of demographic indicators. Georgia Tech Professor David Sawicki and his graduate students are gathering raw data from police and health departments, census reports, state and government agencies, and the like. To help answer questions about crime, for instance, Sawicki is analyzing death records and mapping the addresses of all violent deaths that occurred within the Atlanta Project area during an 18-month period. Sawicki and his legion of student number-crunchers also help identify community resources. They have compiled a database of all businesses, grouped by standard industrial classification code, within the clusters.