People sitting at tables eating and talking

Data Science for Social Good Program kicks off

By Robin Brooks

DSSG fellows and staff chat over lunch in the WRF Data Science Studio. Photo, Robin Brooks, eScience Institute
DSSG fellows and staff chat over lunch in the WRF Data Science Studio. Photo, Robin Brooks, eScience Institute

The eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program is in full swing this summer, with fellows from eight different universities participating in four data-intensive research projects. This year’s teams are focused on urban science, with each group aiming to extract and comprehend relevant, usable information out of data from metropolitan environments.

Topics include mining data for potential early identification of unsafe food products, improved pedestrian wayfinding capabilities, enhanced transit system operations, and effective poverty estimation. Fellows have been working full-time with data scientists, learning about different data science tools, privacy policies, ethics and much more.

“I like it very much,” says fellow Meyong Lee. “The programs are well-designed. We have regular training programs so that helps me to advance my project.”