The Open Planning Project (TOPP) is a non-profit incubator for projects and technology to catalyze large scale social change.
TOPP identifies opportunities where great improvements to the world can be brought about by focused action. We leverage our expertise in technology development, media production, and urban policy to drive positive change.
Our History
In 1999, Mark Gorton, founder of LimeWire and Tower Research Capital, established The Open Planning Project (TOPP). Mark founded TOPP as an incubator for projects with enormous social impact. TOPP engages in strategic, tech-savvy interventions that transform the civic landscape.
TOPP began its first software project, GeoServer, in 2001. Geographic information is a valuable resource for government agencies, civic groups, and the public. Since its inception, GeoServer has helped organizations around the globe to manage, share and use geographic information. Riding on the wave of GeoServer's success, TOPP began OpenGeo, our open source geospatial consulting wing.
In 2005, TOPP set out to transform transportation and public space planning in New York City. This initiative, dubbed The New York City Streets Renaissance (NYCSR), leveraged TOPP's expertise in software development and media
production. Today, NYCSR is reversing decades of automobile-dominated thinking. In just three years, this work has helped usher in a forward-thinking Department of Transportation, redirected millions of city planning
dollars, and created an open and effective partnership between the city
and its residents.
The success of NYCSR spawned Livable Streets, a campaign empowering people around the world to transform their neighborhoods and transportation systems. The Livable Streets Network - the campaign's online hub - provides news, advocacy tools, and community for Livable Streets advocates everywhere.
2006 saw the start of OpenPlans. OpenPlans is a toolbox for grassroots campaign websites. Today, this software powers the Livable Streets Network, other social change efforts, and scientific research groups.
In 2007, TOPP began work on Melkjug. Melkjug is software for sharing and filtering newsfeeds, it helps users stay current and save time. Melkjug has powerful implications for grassroots efforts: strategic efforts rely on timely access to important information, but the number of information outlets can be simply overwhelming. Melkjug is a solution to the information trap.
TOPP's portfolio of social innovation continues to expand. Recently, TOPP launched GothamSchools, an advocacy blog helping NYC education stakeholders improve the city's massive school system.
TOPP's work has been praised by respected media sources, public officials, and civic leaders. Read what people are saying.
Our Approach
TOPP engages in high-leverage initiatives. We are a catalyst; we carry
out focused interventions that trigger transformations in large scale social systems. In this work, we:
- Tap the problem-solving power of civil society by creating tools and avenues for civic engagement.
- Leverage the strengths of open source software development
- Use transparency as a vehicle for driving best practices in government
TOPP’s first software project, GeoServer, is a powerful example of this approach.
As the basis for nearly all civic planning decisions, geospatial data is an incredible resource for government agencies and for the public. Many government functions rely on population, water quality, crime, and other statistics. Recognizing its broad civic value, dozens of countries - including the US - mandate public access to these data.
Just a few years ago, the available geospatial software packages were expensive, inadequate, and inflexible. The technology effectively blocked access and limited the use of this valuable resource.
GeoServer, as a robust platform for managing and sharing geospatial data, solves this problem. With hundreds of thousands of downloads to date, GeoServer has had incredible direct impact: it helps organizations around the globe share geospatial data with each other and the public.
But GeoServer has far broader impact. The development of GeoServer and related software represents a huge step toward more open and effective global information systems. TOPP's software products, including GeoServer, draw on an open source development community to build better software. GeoServer alone has attracted the talents of dozens of outside contributors. The strong open source community has built a software platform that is far more flexible and powerful than anything a single organization could have built alone.
Building on GeoServer's extraordinary success,
TOPP established OpenGeo, our geospatial software division.
The OpenGeo team builds open source solutions for clients around the world. The OpenGeo vision is a truly open geospatial web: an accessible network of location-based data that are useful for every conceivable civic need, and a strong, open base for future
technologies.
Because TOPP is a non-profit, revenue from contract work returns to the project, powering the development of more open source software. The small initial investment in GeoServer continues to yield compounding social returns.
About Mark Gorton
Mark Gorton has spent the past decade building The Lime Group, a series of innovative financial and technology companies. Tower Research Capital, the Lime Group flagship, is a hedge fund specializing in quantitative trading and investment strategies. Mark’s financial and technical talents, and his success in growing and managing software teams, have beaten markets time and again.
Mark founded The Open Planning Project in 1999 after realizing the incredible potential of the open source movement to create tools that catalyze civic engagement. Mark is TOPP’s primary funder, and in his role as President he draws on a strong background in urban transportation advocacy and open media.
Mark holds degrees from Yale, Stanford, and Harvard Business School.
