Learning & Doing Data for Good: A conference for academics & their partners

At this forum, you will hear from current students and alumni from university-based data for good programs alongside project partners and data science professionals. This will be a space for inspiring discussions and for connecting with colleagues and partners who are motivated to learn from and meet the needs of communities and people using data for change. 

Date/Time and Location

The Data for Good conference will be held from the afternoon on Friday, September 9 through midday Sunday, September 11, 2022 at the Bill and Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science and Engineering. The conference will be hybrid (i.e. in-person and virtual) this year.

We are also excited to support travel to Seattle on a case-by-case basis for current students and alumni participating in this event. Please note if funding support is requested, early registration is strongly recommended.

Call for participation

Current and former students who have participated in university-based data for good programs and/or related research are eligible to present a poster or talk. Team presentations are encouraged.

Deadline to request a poster or talk presentation: Monday, August 8, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.

Conference Schedule

**Please note the schedule is in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)

Friday, September 9, 2022 (Day 1)

12:00 p.m. - Registration and Walking Tour of UW and other self-guided activities

3:45 p.m. - Break

4:15 p.m. - Pre-Welcome

4:30 p.m. - Mixer: Getting to Know You, Poster Display, and Game Room

7:00 p.m. - Dinner Reservation

Saturday, September 10, 2022 (Day 2)

7:30 a.m. - Registration

8:30 a.m. - Welcome and Keynote Speaker, Dr. Desmond Upton Patton

9:30 a.m. - Session 1 (8-minute talks)

10:30 a.m. - Break

10:45 a.m. - Poster Session

12:00 p.m. - Lunch

1:00 p.m. - Session 2 (8-minute talks)

2:00 p.m. - Data for Good Partners (panel)

3:00 p.m. - Break

3:15 p.m. - Exploring a Career Path and Talk with a Career Representative

3:15 p.m. - Running a Data for Good Program: Best Practices (organizers only)

4:30 p.m. - Appetizers, Posters, and Mingling

6:30 p.m. - Dinner Reservations

* Posters will be on display throughout the day.

Sunday, September 11, 2022 (Day 3)

8: 00 a.m. - Breakfast Bar

8:30 a.m. - Closing Remarks

8:45 a.m. - Session 3 (8 minute talks)

9:45 a.m. - Break

10:00 a.m. - Session 4 (8 minute talks)

11:00 a.m. - Data for Good Alumni: Where are they now?

* Posters will be on display throughout the day.

Conference Keynote, Dr. Desmond Upton Patton

Dr. Desmond Upton Patton is currently a Professor of Social Work at Columbia University. He also is the Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Curriculum Innovation at Columbia and holds a courtesy appointment in the department of Sociology.

Professor Desmond Upton Patton’s research uses qualitative and computational data collection methods to examine the relationship between youth and gang violence and social media; how and why violence, grief, and identity are expressed on social media; and the real-world impact these expressions have on well-being for low-income youth of color. He studies the ways in which gang-involved youth conceptualize threats on social media, and the extent to which social media shapes and facilitates youth and gang violence.

Dr. Patton has been featured in The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, NPR, Boston magazine, ABC News, Nature, and Vice. His work was cited in an amici curiae brief submitted to the United States Supreme Court in Elonis v. United States, which examined the interpretation of threats on social media.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Political Science with honors from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and a PhD in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.

https://socialwork.columbia.edu/faculty-research/faculty/full-time/desmond-upton-patton/

Hotel Accommodations

We recommend staying at the following hotels during your stay in Seattle:

Residence Inn Seattle University District (main website)

Address: 4501 12th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA, 98105

University Inn - A Staypineapple Hotel (main website)

Address: 4140 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105

** Click here for booking using the special rate for University Inn - hotel stay

Special code: UW eScience Institute UI SEPT 2022

Watertown Hotel - A Staypineapple Hotel

Address: 4242 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105

** Click here for booking using the special rate for the Watertown Hotel stay

Special code: UW eScience Institute WT SEPT 2022

Conference Sponsors

Conference Program Committee

• Juandalyn Burke, Ph.D., MPH, Conference Director & Research Scientist, University of Washington
• Sarah Stone, Ph.D., Executive Director of the eScience Institute & Co-Principal Investigator for the West Big Data Innovation Hub
• Anissa Tanweer, Ph.D., MA, Research Scientist & UW DSSG Program Chair, University of Washington
• Dharma Dailey, Ph.D., Research Associate & UW Data Science Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Washington
• Kevin Lin, Ph.D., Research Administrator for the Data Science Institute (DSI), University of British Columbia
• Matthew Rattigan, Ph.D., Technical Director of Community Initiatives for the Center for Data Science, University of Massachusetts
• Kit Rodolfa, Ph.D., MPP, Senior Research Scientist & Faculty, Carnegie Mellon University
• Karthikeyan Umapathy, Ph.D., MS, Associate Professor at the School of Computing and co-director of FL-DSSG, University of North Florida