International Data Week: Data for Good - Moving Beyond Data

This week, I was in Gaborone Botswana at International Data Week

Information on the session is below

The use of Data Science approach to tackle social challenges has been receiving attention over the last few years. This entails using Machine Learning, Statistics, Mathematics, and other tools under the Data Scientist's toolbox to tackle challenges that lead to Social Impact. This is exemplified by organisations that work with government, NGOs, private entities with the sole purpose of affecting some process that is a public good or at least has externalities that are public good. Overall this encompasses more than just using Data Science in social good settings; it involves understanding society, factors that contribute to or impede progress, building skill for public servants, creating receptive environments, sharing experiences within the sector with other and more. Covering all these factors is in the pursuit of having lasting impact.

The underlying drive in all these problems is the data that one has to seef through to generally make sense of the problem. There are different paradigms being used to tackle problems in different areas and there is value in learning the insights gained in all these applications. We aim to provide a session where practitioners, industrial representatives and researchers in this field can share their experiences, present current research results and discuss the application of Data Science tools for modelling or analysis in various problem areas.