Problem
Non-profit organisations and government agencies hold enormous amounts of data about the people they serve. But most of them do not have the technical skills to use it well. That means decisions about where to direct resources, how to improve services and how to reach the people who need help most are often made without the evidence that could make them better. At the same time, a generation of data scientists is graduating from universities around the world with the skills to solve exactly these problems, but without the experience of applying those skills to real social challenges.
Science
We deliver the Data Science for Social Good (DSSGx) Summer Programme in partnership with the Alan Turing Institute and the University of Warwick. The programme was pioneered by the University of Chicago in 2013 and has since involved more than 200 graduate and undergraduate students from computer science, social sciences, statistics, economics, public policy and other quantitative fields. It is a 12-week, project-based fellowship that brings together students, data scientists and researchers from around the world to build data-driven solutions for non-profit and government partners. Fellows work directly with partner organisations, supported by professional technical mentors and project managers, to produce working prototypes: reports, predictive models and software tools designed to solve a specific, real problem.
Outcome
Fellows on the programme have built data-driven approaches to some of the most persistent challenges facing cities and communities. In London, one team quantified traffic dynamics to help reduce air pollution. In Portugal, another improved employment prospects for jobseekers through personalised job recommendations. Across Africa, a third team built a tool to reduce the time it takes for citizens to get answers to legal questions. A fourth team worked to improve the accuracy of heart health diagnosis using artificial intelligence. Each project produced a working prototype, delivered directly to the partner organisation that commissioned it.
Change
The DSSGx programme shows what becomes possible when data science skills meet real social need. Partner organisations, many of which have never had access to a dedicated data science team, leave the programme with a working tool and the knowledge of how to use it. Fellows leave with experience that no classroom can replicate. We continue to run the programme annually in partnership with the Alan Turing Institute and the University of Warwick. Non-profit and government organisations that want to work with a student data science team should contact us to discuss becoming a project partner.