How Tech Companies Can Advance Data Science for Social Good (SSIR)

"As the world struggles to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the need for reliable data to track our progress is more important than ever. Government, civil society, and private sector organizations all play a role in producing, sharing, and using this data, but their information-gathering and -analysis efforts have been able to shed light on only 68 percent of the SDG indicators so far, according to a 2019 UN study ."

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"As tech firms become increasingly involved with using data and data science to help achieve the SDGs, it's important that they understand the possibilities and limitations of the nonprofits and other civil society organizations they're working with. Without a firm grasp on the data ecosystems of their partners, all the technical wizardry in the world may be for naught.

Companies must ask questions such as: What incentives or disincentives are in place for nonprofits to experiment with data science in their work? What gaps remain between what nonprofits or data scientists need and the resources funders provide? What skills must be developed? To help find answers, TechChange, an organization dedicated to using technology for social good, partnered with Project17, Facebook’s partnerships-led initiative to accelerate progress on the SDGs. Over the past six months, the team led interviews with top figures in the DSSG community from industry, academia, and the public sector. The 14 experts shared numerous insights into using data and data science to advance social good and the SDGs. Four takeaways emerged from our conversations and research:

1. Support the hidden work that makes effective data science possible.

2. Help partners build their data culture and digital transformation strategies.

3. Provide skilled data scientists to work directly with nonprofits.

4. Support training for nonprofits to make responsible and ethical decisions based on data."

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Conclusion: Avoid Going It Alone

"As tech companies release datasets, donate cloud computing resources, or lend data scientists to the social sector, the experts we spoke with emphasized the importance of couching the efforts within existing systems, strategies, and knowledge. Coordination among all participants in the DSSG ecosystem—government, civil society, and private sector—will be critical, and numerous networks are already set up to do just that: 2030Vision , the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data , Data Collaboratives , the Data Culture Project , and others. Working through cross-industry cooperatives like these will help avoid redundant and siloed investments —and ensure we move more quickly toward achieving the SDGs as their deadlines loom."

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/how_tech_companies_can_advance_data_science_for_social_good?utm_source=Digest&utm_campaign=d9aa806e2d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d90a01c7ff-d9aa806e2d-87788213