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Data & Analysis

Data has the power to unlock unprecedented insights. And while the promise of data is ubiquitous, there’s a long way to go before that potential is fully realized. Many questions still linger for data stewardship, from ensuring truly clean data to collecting data without being creepy.
harvesting a crop

Forecasting agricultural vulnerabilities on a changing planet

Around the world, farmers are wrestling with floods, droughts, and heat waves — environmental challenges to agriculture that are made both more severe and more frequent by climate change. In the US, this year’s record flooding in the Midwest and Great Plains caused over $3 billion in damage and left many farmers unable to plant, […]

woman overlooking a city in smog

Data science answers big questions like ‘how does climate change affect your health?’

Hottest temperatures in history, flooding, droughts, wildfires, and air pollution. The New York Times article How Hot Was July? Hotter Than Ever, Global Data Shows is one of many recent news stories that records the alarming symptoms of climate change. We monitor the planet’s health, but what effect do these events have on our health? How […]

Running through airport

How machine learning can revolutionize air travel

Air travel is stressful. Long lines at security, cramped seats in coach, lost baggage, and tight connecting flights—there is no shortage of pain points in any journey. Machine learning can’t give you more leg room, but it is poised to revolutionize your travel experience. In her recent collaborative work with Heathrow Airport and researchers at […]

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Defining global digital ethics standards

This post originally appeared in ODBMS Industry Watch.  I have interviewed Giovanni Buttarelli, head of the European Data Protection Supervisor. We talked about the mission of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Digital Ethics, AI, China, USA, Tech companies, Democracy and many more… Q1. What is the mission of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)? […]

On Target: rethinking the retail website

This article originally appeared in Working Knowledge.  In the mid-1990s, Target was a discount superstore behemoth. The retailer had set itself apart from chief rival Walmart with a focus on more upscale but wallet-friendly fashion and lifestyle lines, spurring double-digit growth by double-digits each year for more than a decade.

Person taking notes

Deliver social impact by speaking directly to consumers

The idea of using data to drive social impact sounds sexy, cool and exciting. But what does it mean in practice? Where are the tangible examples of how it is being done? Let’s first start with a more basic question. What constitutes social impact? To me, social impact occurs when a person has experienced a […]

The data bottleneck in space and what it means for earth

While satellites may be some of our most impressive technology, they are bogged down by a single bottleneck — data. Satellites orbiting Earth routinely struggle to relay data back down to Earth in a timely manner, with sizable implications for the real world, on the ground economy. This is why companies like Analytical Space are hoping to tap into the big data space revolution that is just waiting to happen.

Creating a more general deep learning algorithm for galaxies

Machine learning is a popular topic in most industries these days, and it will come as no surprise that this is true for astronomy and astrophysics as well. University of Colorado PhD student Avery Schiff explores how a deep learning algorithm is being used to classify galaxy morphologies in this article from graduate student astronomy journal Astrobites.

When Meetings Multiply

It’s a declaration we’ve all heard before: “We need more collaboration! We need to break out of our silos and build integrated, cross-functional teams!” But what if — when it comes to collaboration — there can be too much of a good thing? This is the hypothesis Professor Jeff Polzer set out to test with his research on collaborative overload, that is how the amount of collaboration relates to organizational productivity. Using digital trace data to analyze organizational productivity at scale, Professor Polzer finds some answers that may surprise you.

Gamifying Student Data

Fresno Unified School District had built a robust data-collection system, but none of it was being put to use. That is, until Harvard Strategic Data Project Fellow David Jansen developed a app that turned improving student outcomes into a compelling game.

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