MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2014



Big Data-In-Time Critical Circumstances: The Philippines Relief Effort as a Case Study for Journalists and Responders

Tom Levenson, Director, Graduate Program in Science Writing

Jan/27 Mon 12:00PM-02:00PM 8-119, Lunch will be served
Jan/29 Wed 12:00PM-02:00PM 8-119, Lunch will be served

Enrollment: Advance registration plus walk-in as space permits
Limited to 12 participants
Attendance: Participants are strongly encouraged to attend both sessons.

The Typhoon Haiyan disaster provides a major application of Big Data to disaster relief.  This seminar will look at issues raised by a Big Data approach for both aid workers and journalists covering rapidly moving events. They are: 1) Where and how to get your data.  2) How do you use which tools to construct questions and run calculations robustly and resiliently under the pressure of time?  3) Following analysis, how do you visualize your data to support real action on the ground and to find stories to be reported and told?

Instructors:  Dr. Steve Chan (Research Fellow, CMS/W and CTO, E-Lab, MIT and co-director Network Science Research Laboratory, IBM), Wesley Rhodes (director, Network Science Research Laboratory, IBM), Andrea Johns

Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Tom Levenson, Levenson@mit.edu