Only about 15% to 22% of today’s data science professionals are women. There is an urgent need for women to get skills in this area. Technology, big data, advanced analytics, and AI in particular shape the future, and we need to make sure that this future is diverse and fair. AI applications can perpetuate and increase gender bias and we must develop AI both by women and men to ensure that it represents our society in its entirety.
That is why we started a series of events “Demystifying Data Science” in partnership with Dell Technologies to prove that Data Science is not some kind of magic, but a craft that can be studied and mastered, and girls are welcomed here.
On September 26, we hosted “WiT Demystifying Data Science Conference 2020”, which rounded up the first series of data science meetups. At the 6-hours conferences, we welcomed participants from Russia, India, Israel, Estonia, Tanzania, Spain, Canada, USA, and many other countries.
Prominent data scientists from famous companies all over the world shared their knowledge and best practices. We found out about AI and ML usage in medical diagnostics, learned about the magic of a playlist, figure out how to weigh a plant-based on camera footage, discussed what 10 ML concepts every startup founder must know, get insights on why do large retailers need Data Science, talked about how we make machines understand human emotions. The conference was closed with a conversation with industry experts Q&A about a data science career during the current pandemic situation.
The next event in the Demystifying Data Science series is the Global Women in Tech Hackathon on Machine Learning and Data Science this November. We welcome all to join us as mentors, partners, participants, and volunteers.