Tagged: databites

Databites Talk with Chris Wiggins

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,...

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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...

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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...

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