Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Data Journalist

Data Science for Social Good Team Builds Tools to Support Fairness in Computational Redistricting

This fall, Congressional leaders will begin the state redistricting process that takes place every ten years to reflect population changes captured by the U.S. Census. As the process gets underway, a team in the  University of Washington Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program is creating a resource guide to help nonpartisan groups who want to evaluate the fairness of proposed maps, or draw their own, using a computational redistricting tool called GerryChain.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

Migrating the DSSG Summer Program to a Remote Setting

After five years of running the Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) summer program in the eScience Institute’s open studio space – where project leads spend at least two days per week with full-time student fellows and in-house data scientists for ten weeks – the program has now completed its first successful summer remotely.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

Data Science for Social Good Fellows Present Their Project Results

This year, two interdisciplinary teams at the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program tackled timely issues, conducting projects to identify disinformation articles about the coronavirus and detect minority vote dilution resulting from geographic boundary setting in state, city, county and school board districts.

On August 19th, the DSSG student fellows presented the results of their projects, conducted with project leads and data scientists, to more than 130 people via zoom.  The ten-week summer program joins student fellows from universities around the country with data and domain researchers, and real-world stakeholders, to work on collaborative projects for societal benefit. This year the program took place remotely for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

DSSG Project Supports Equity in Voting District Boundaries

As states, counties, cities and school boards across the country prepare to re-draw their voting districts in 2021, a software package that is being updated through the Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program will help to ensure equal representation among constituents.

Voting district boundaries are re-drawn after each Census to account for changes in population, ensuring that districts have an equal number of voters and equal representation by racial and ethnic group, in accordance with Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. When voting patterns show minority and majority racial or ethnic groups are primarily voting in opposite directions, known as “racially polarized voting,” district boundaries may be challenged in court.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

DSSG Team’s Model Will ID Online Coronavirus Disinformation

While informative news articles about COVID-19 play a key role in fighting the pandemic, a range of erroneous blogs and articles with fake virus cures, political propaganda and conspiracy theories are also circulating online.

A new open source tool being developed as a project in the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) summer program will help identify disinformation articles, as part of a larger effort to disincentivize its content producers and reduce its spread.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

Data Science for Social Good teams present their project results

On Wednesday, Aug. 21, fellows from four interdisciplinary teams presented the results of their projects at the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program. The ten-week summer program, which began in 2015, brings together student fellows, stakeholders, and data and domain researchers to work on collaborative projects for societal benefit. Final presentations can be viewed here on our YouTube page. Project results are summarized below.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

Data Science for Social Good team analyzes equity of congestion pricing on Interstate 405

A team in the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program has partnered with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to study the usage patterns, price sensitivities and equity impacts of congestion pricing on Interstate 405.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

Team develops prototype tool on accessory dwelling units for homeowners

The City of Seattle is collaborating with an interdisciplinary team in the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program on a project to encourage the development of affordable accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The team is prototyping an informational tool for homeowners and researchers as part of broader citywide efforts to increase affordable housing options in high opportunity neighborhoods. The prototyping effort is mentioned in an executive order signed by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan following the passage of legislation intended to foster ADU development in Seattle.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

Data Science for Social Good team analyzes peer support data to understand ‘helpfulness’

Young adults who face mental health struggles often turn to social media for peer support, leaving a large data trail in a field that has been traditionally documented through qualitative work. A team at the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program at the University of Washington (UW) is conducting an analysis of these interactions to understand what types of posts and responses are the most helpful to those who are suffering.

Read the full article at eScience News here.

Team develops ‘Algorithmic Equity Toolkit’ at Data Science for Social Good program

Community advocates who are concerned about the impacts of surveillance technologies and algorithmic decision systems (ADSs) will have a new set of examination tools soon. A team at the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program at the University of Washington (UW) is developing a package of tools designed for conversations with elected officials, policymakers and fellow community members to understand and critique technologies that utilize data about people.

Read the full article at eScience News here.