It’s been a busy summer, with all of us working hard on complex and socially meaningful projects. So on a bright and sunny Saturday morning, twenty fellows got together to take a short break and work together on some less serious projects, in an event called The Data Science for Social “Evil” Mob Madness Hackathon, [...]
An essential step for nearly every data science project is to build a statistical model, an algorithm or analysis that converts raw data into predictions, classifications, or other insights. At DSSG, whether teams are focused on identifying struggling high school students, teasing air conditioner usage out of meter data, or spotting corrupt bidding practices, an [...]
In the Chicago Public Schools system, each school's budget depends on how many students enroll there. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to predict how many students will enroll in a given year, and inaccurate predictions can result in last-minute money shuffles, staff changes, and wasted educational time. Because budget allocations are made in the spring, [...]
What's So Smart About a Smart Meter? Smart meters are an integral unit of smart grids, technology hailed as the future of energy management. Replacing standard meters that are read in person once a month, smart meters transmit information directly to utility companies and collect higher quality data at short intervals of time. For utility [...]
Data Science for Social Good returns for 2014 with 48 fellows, 12 projects Media contact: Rob Mitchum, rmitchum@uchicago.edu Sniffing out corruption in World Bank contracts. Predicting where Chicago children are most at risk for lead poisoning. Identifying struggling high school students who need additional guidance. Reducing maternal mortality in Mexico. This summer, 48 fellows from [...]
Last week, DSSG fellow Peter Landwehr went to one of Enroll America's tabling events at Richton Park, IL, and watched how it went. The event was a standard Enroll America information session, with a volunteer sitting behind a table at a library, handing out information to passersby, and getting their contact information in turn. Here [...]
Every year, the World Bank Group lends billions of dollars to fund infrastructure and other development projects around the globe. Projects vary widely in scale and scope, ranging from developing hydropower systems to rehabilitating coral reefs to improving roads, health, education and agriculture systems. Contractors on these projects are typically hired through a competitive bidding [...]
To most people, Memphis, Tennessee evokes images of Elvis, Beale Street, and BBQ. But like many American cities, Memphis also faces a legacy of urban planning dominated by suburban growth and automobile transportation. Since 1970, the City of Memphis’s population has grown by 4 percent while the geographic area has increased by 55 percent, leaving [...]
Earmarks have been called “the best known, most notorious, and most misunderstood aspect of the congressional budgetary process.” These government budget items allocated to specific people, places, or projects are alternately described as a subversion of democracy or an important negotiation tool to smooth the passage of controversial legislation. But despite the attention earmarks attract, [...]
It's hard to believe we're already a third of the way through the summer. During a foggy week where Chicago did its best impression of San Francisco, the DSSG fellows started to transition from exploring and cleaning their data to conducting deeper analyses and constructing new tools to attack their partners' problems. Visits from Abhi [...]
