"We believe that ending homelessness is possible and that, in Chicago, everyone should have a home." - Chicago's Plan 2.0: A Home for Everyone Problem definition On a bitterly cold night in January 2013, Chicago counted more than 6,000 people without a home. While so many Chicagoans are without one of the most basic human [...]
Despite advances in prenatal and postnatal health care, maternal mortality remains a major medical problem around the world. According to the World Health Organization, 800 women die every day from preventable pregnancy and childbirth-related causes, with 99 percent of those deaths occurring in developing countries. In 1990, the United Nations made reducing maternal mortality by [...]
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela In today’s world where innovation and creativity are the key drivers of any economy, the importance of educating young minds is unquestionable. Governments invest massive resources to ensure that primary and secondary education is within reach for all [...]
Environmental causes typically work to preserve portions of the planet in their pre-human state. But conservation groups are increasingly finding ways of using modern technology to support their mission, allowing them to gather more information about the areas they protect and better argue to decision-makers and local residents why they are worth protecting. The Tropical [...]
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 [...]
