We keep hearing and saying that in order to implement and correctly use machine learning and predictive models , they must be transparent and interpretable. That makes sense. You don't want a black box model making important decisions -- although one could argue that the guts and intuitions of many human beings are often as [...]
Fellow applications for the 2016 Summer Fellowship are all in and we have been busy reviewing the 900 we received! As we go through the very high (virtual) stack of applications, resumes, and recommendation letters (with the help of many alumni fellow and mentors), we wanted to share with everyone a little bit more about who applied [...]
At the Center for Data Science and Public Policy, we work on problems across different policy areas and develop machine learning (ML) solutions that span all these area , from education to public health to government transparency to public safety data. Building machine learning/data science systems often involves coming up with a software workflow and writing variations on [...]
Many data science projects follow the following workflow Define problem Get data Analyze the data (that may include building predictive models) Report the results of the analysis. Implement results into an operational system The move from step 1 to step 2 is often not trivial. First, the project partner needs to extract data from their systems and [...]
We're excited and happy to start the application process for 2016. Applications are now open for Fellows, Mentors, Project Managers, and Project Partner Organizations. We expect to take around 42 fellows, 4-6 Technical Mentors, 3 Project Managers, and 12 Project Partners. We encourage everyone to read the FAQ before applying. Most [...]
Apply to be a Project Partner for 2022 What Makes a Good Data Science for Social Good Project? Data Science for Social Good is a summer program that requires year-round preparation. A successful summer requires a mix of good people and projects, and we spend a lot of time trying to find projects [...]
Over the past year, the nation has faced a series of highly publicized adverse interactions between the police and the public, from Ferguson to Baltimore to New York. These incidents have had dire and occasionally deadly consequences for individuals and have eroded public trust in the police, making it more difficult for the majority of [...]
What’s the problem? Hundreds of millions of tons of hazardous waste are generated every year. When this waste isn’t handled properly, the results can be disastrous. Chemical spills and explosions pose a serious threat to human health and the environment -- in 2014, there were over 20,000 spills in the US, leading to more than [...]
This year’s Knight News Challenge asks, “How might we make data work for individuals and communities?” Data Science for Social Good and its parent organization, the Center for Data Science and Public Policy, pursue answers to this question every day. We submitted four of our projects to this year’s challenge so we can develop them [...]
A college education is one of the keys to economic security and prosperity in the United States. Bachelor’s degree holders earn nearly twice as much as high school graduates, enjoy better health and hold jobs that offer a greater sense of accomplishment, independence, creativity, and social interaction (Oreopoulos and Petronijevic 2013). But there are large [...]