The big data hype has been gaining momentum over the past several years. Although a lot of it is hype and buzzwords, what is undeniable is that the use of data to improve decision-making can improve a lot of organizations. Despite this potential, most of the examples we hear about the use of data is in the corporate world, especially in finance, internet search, and advertising. In this talk, I’ll talk about the potential of using data for social good. I’ll give several examples from the Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship at the University of Chicago that highlight how data science can be used to solve large-scale problems with social impact in areas such as education, healthcare, sustainability, community development, and disaster relief. I’ll highlight some of the projects related to education and discuss how data scientists have the potential some of these most challenging problems.

1. Rayid Ghani @rayidghani
Using Data for Social Good
Rayid Ghani
University of Chicago & Edgeflip

2. Rayid Ghani @rayidghani
By the Numbers
48Fellows
8 Mentors
12 Projects
12 Weeks

3. 550 Applicants from 34 countries ~200 Universities
36 fellows Computer Scientists
Statisticians
Economists
Public Policy
(and other computational and quantitative fields)
CMU
U. of Chicago
Harvard
U. Of Wisconsin
Madison
UT Austin
MIT
Yale
ITAM
Columbia
Northwestern
UIC
Stanford
Technion
U of Alabama
Georgia Tech
Cambridge
UC Irvine
U of Maryland
U of Michigan
Stanford
WPI
The Eric & Wendy Schmidt
Data Science for Social Good
Summer Fellowship 2013

5. Rayid Ghani @rayidghani
The Eric & Wendy Schmidt
Data Science for Social Good
Summer Fellowship 2013

6. 6
Cook County Land Bank
A Zillow for Vacant & Abandoned Properties

7. 7
Improving Public Transit Planning
A Step Forward in Solving the Crowding Problem
Brandon
Willard
Research Consultant
Booth School of
Business
Walter
Dempsey
Statistics
University of
Chicago
Andrés Akle
Carranza
Applied Math
Instituto Tecnológico
Autónomo de México
Jordan Bates
Computer Science
Arizona State
University
David Sekora
Computer Science
University of
Chicago

8. 8
Measuring Impacts on Children’s Health and Development
Evaluating Home
Visitation Programs

9. 9
Code Blue Prediction
Using EMR Data

10. 10
Machine Suggestions for Report Reviewing
Smarter Crisis
Crowdsourcing

11. 11
Targeting students at risk of
not going to college
The Eric & Wendy Schmidt Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship 2013

12. Rayid Ghani @rayidghani
Rayid Ghani
rayid@uchicago.edu
For more information on the summer fellowship
http://dssg.uchicago.edu
Let’s work on problems that matter!
Contact Information