{"306071":{"#nid":"306071","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech uses data science to promote social good","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith the Atlanta city skyline behind them, three students in a new Georgia Institute of Technology summer internship program harvested spinach at the Truly Living Well farm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe students talked with farmers and volunteers about the crops, planting schedules, harvest requests, visitor demographics and other data crucial to the daily operation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUrban agriculture, the students realized, is a complex undertaking. Their challenge is to create a streamlined data management system for the farm and move them away from pencil and paper. Ideally, this system will allow the farm to increase productivity and move toward financial sustainability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe student team is one of five working with non-profits and government agencies as part of the Data Science for Social Good internship program, sponsored by Georgia Tech and Oracle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESixteen students from around the country are participating in a 10-week paid internship program showing non-profits and government agencies how they can use data to tackle social and societal problems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe program allows students to solve real-world problems instead of relying on sample data sets, said Ellen Zegura, the program director.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt also educates local non-profits on the need for better data systems, said Zegura, a professor in the School of Computer Science in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are connecting those who collect data with the people who know how to turn the data into something meaningful that can have a positive impact,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe projects deal with safety, criminal justice, transportation and sustainability. The student teams are collaborating with the Atlanta Police Department, the city\u2019s Community Courts, Cycle Atlanta, Georgia Tech Office of Information Technology and Truly Living Well.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is piloting the program this year and hopes to grow it next year. The Atlanta internship is modeled after a similar program the University of Chicago started last year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERaj Bandyopadhyay, principal data scientist with Pindrop Security, heard about the Chicago program at a conference and led the charge to bring it to Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSo often when people hear of big data, they don\u2019t understand how it can be used to improve their lives,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are showing future data scientists how they can use their skills to address social issues.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore than 80 students applied for the internship. The selected students come from eight colleges including: Carnegie Mellon University, Southern Methodist University, Emory University and Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUmashanthi Pavalanathan, a Ph.D. student in computer science at Georgia Tech, is working with 911 data collected by the city. They are looking at the response time between calls and how to best use the dispatchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m so used to dealing with abstract concepts and situations that it\u2019s exciting to work with real clients on real issues,\u201d she said. \u201cYou get a good feeling knowing that what we\u2019re doing can help save somebody.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents from all five projects will present their findings and recommendations during a public demonstration and reception scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on July 17 at Atlanta Tech Village. More information about the event and internship program can be found here: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dssg-atl.io\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/dssg-atl.io\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dssg-atl.io\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe internship ends July 18, although the data will continue to reap benefits.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESixteen students from around the country are participating in a 10-week paid internship program showing non-profits and government agencies how they can use data to tackle social and societal problems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Data Science for Social Good internship program is sponsored by Georgia Tech and Oracle."}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2014-06-30 13:37:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:41","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"}],"keywords":[{"id":"15092","name":"big data"},{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"92811","name":"data science"},{"id":"166941","name":"School of Computer Science"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}