AUSTIN, Texas — Even as more international development organizations understand how data science can help them achieve their goals, they often don’t know where to begin.
“Just add a data scientist!” joked Jake Porway, founder and executive director of DataKind, which pairs volunteers with expertise in artificial intelligence and data science with nonprofit organizations, governments, and social enterprises that could benefit from their support.
“Throw on some AI,” he said in a talk at South by Southwest this week, alluding to the reaction he often gets from social change organizations. “Just sprinkle it on. We’ll save lives!”