Chris Wiggins, Chief Data Scientist at NY Times and professor at Columbia and cofounder of hackny came to D&S to talk with us about two areas he’s been thinking about. Hard, unanswerable questions got us thinking and discussing the future of online communities and the ethics of data science. Chris cofounded hackny, an organization that supports student hackathons where young people come together to do play, build, and create with other like-minded people. We discussed how to broaden who attends, thus broadening the future of tech. It’s something we all agree is important, but how do you do it without insulting, demeaning,...
Tagged: databites
Databites Talk with UN Global Pulse
Several members of the UN Global Pulse spoke with us at Data & Society about big data and development. UN Global Pulse is an innovation initiative of the UN. They bring together the data, innovation and tools, and the problem statements come from UN partners. They see a lot of opportunities in the big data space, including enhancement of early warning (like predicting a financial meltdown), real-time awareness (by following a tool like Twitter), and real-time evaluation (such as getting as seeing the immediate effects of an intervention of program rather than just waiting for the evaluation or summary analysis). The...
Databites Talk with Claudia Perlich
Have you ever gone to the NYT homepage and saw an ad for a nice pair of shoes that seem to fit your style perfectly? Have you ever gotten an ad for pizza and thought, I don’t want pizza. Why does this website think I want pizza? Do you ever wonder what is happening in the background to make these ads perfectly fit you or show you something that seems way off base? Claudia Perlich, Chief Scientist at Dstillery simplified what happens when you go to a site like NYT. Essentially, someone browses with cookies enabled, information from those cookies...
Databites Talk with Ethan Zuckerman
Ethan Zuckerman, Director of MIT Center for Civic Media, spoke with D&S came to ask, what constitutes a civic act (voting, protesting, volunteering for a social cause, etc.)? This is such an interesting question in the digital world. There are many factors involved in why we decide to perform a civic act, such as the cost it will take for the individual, efficacy of the act, and the sense of duty one feels to perform the act. So, if we want more civic engagement, we need to ask how do we reduce cost and increase effectiveness of their engagement (this...