Stories
Below is a collection of inspiring / empowering / feel-good articles we have stumbled across where people or organisations are using data for good causes. We hope they inspire you to think about how you are/could be utilising your data or at the very least make you hopeful for the future!
If you come across an interesting article/topic/organisation send it through to us at connect@data4good.com.au and it could be featured on this page or in our next newsletter!
*Words are not all ours, authors are credited in individual articles.
- All
- Animals & Environment
- Education
- Health
- Social Justice
Drones count koalas faster and cheaper than manual spotting methods: study
By technology reporter James Purtill, ABC Science For an animal that’s culturally ubiquitous, koalas are remarkably hard to spot in the wild. As a result, it’s difficult for scientists and conservationists to know just how many koalas ar...
How you can help save the bees, one hive at a time
By Noah Wilson-Rich, Beekeeper Bees are dying off in record numbers, but ecologist Noah Wilson-Rich is interested in something else: Where are bees healthy and thriving? To find out, he recruited citizen scientists across the US to set up beehives in...
Fire service data: How to employ 2 kinds of data for effective problem-solving
By Linda Willing, FireChief.com Gathering data for inspection and data for learning must be seen as a positive tool rather than as a way of potentially punishing someone When I was an officer at the fire station nearest the University of Colorado, ou...
An AI Used Facebook Data to Predict Mental Illness
By GRACE HUCKINS, Wired.com Volunteers let an AI scan their messages from more than a year before they received a psychiatric diagnosis. It was able to flag signs of their conditions. It’s easy to do bad things with Facebook data. From targeti...
Trusted data helps us all ‘understand the changing world’
By UN News, news.un.org Statistics are “fundamental for evidence-based policymaking…[and] drive the transformations that are needed”, in order to ensure no-one is left behind, upheld Secretary-General António Guterres. And the COVID-19 pande...
AI For Good Is Saving The Planet By Accelerating Human Sustainable Development And Transforming Wildlife Conservation
By Mark Minevich, Forbes The world’s biodiversity status is in crisis mode––and Covid-19 has only exacerbated this reality. Covid has served as a stark reminder that negative interactions with species can directly impact our lives. As of 1970, ...
Can Artificial Intelligence Detect Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer?
By Allison Inserro, AJMC Could artificial intelligence (AI) be used to identify patients with early-stage pancreatic cancer close to 2 years before the disease becomes apparent, and thus harder to treat? A presentation at the ESMO World Congress on G...
Unlocking AI’s Potential for Social Good
By Mark Purdy, Harvard Business Review Will AI prove to be the great leveler or a new divider? The answer lies in our own hands. By taking action now to address biases and risks, businesses and governments can start to make AI a true force for social...
2020 Aussie Backyard Bird Count results
By Birdlife Australia Australia counts more than 4.6 million birds in 7 days! In its seventh year, the Aussie Backyard Bird Count saw record-breaking numbers of people heading to their backyards and local green spaces to count their local birds. Toge...
Transparency, Sustainability and Certification: The Future of our Food Production and Distribution Systems
By Melissa Baer and Jemma Penelope Consumers and producers know that the food we grow and the agriculture we rely upon is no-longer simply about dollars and commodity foods. Our food and our agriculture is an opportunity for us to acknowledge that f...
Wild Pollinator Count 8th-15th Nov
Ever wondered what pollinators visit your favourite flowers? Take 10 minutes to watch flowers in your garden or local park and take note of what you see! Then enter what you’ve seen into our database. We’ve also made a handy Wild Pollinator Coun...
How the 50 Words project is using technology to bring language to the world
By Rae Johnston, NITV News The 50 Words project is an interactive online map giving everyone the opportunity to hear Aboriginal languages spoken all across the continent. Do you know how to say “hello” in the language of the First Nation ...
