UNB’s fourth annual Data Visualization Competition to focus on sustainable development
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on Nov 21, 2019
Category: UNB Fredericton
The University of New Brunswick’s International Business and Entrepreneurship Centre (IBEC) will host the fourth annual Data Visualization Competition on Thursday, Nov. 21, at the Wu Conference Centre in Fredericton.
This year’s competition will see participants from across Atlantic Canada use their analytical skills and imagination to create visual presentations and infographics based on open data sets relating to sustainable development.
“This year we have participants presenting on topics related to at least one of the 17 sustainable goals put forth in the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” says Dr. Devashis Mitra, dean of the faculty of management. “Because of this, competitors will have access to more datasets and visualizations on a wider range of topics such as gender equality, climate action, good health and wellbeing.”
The purpose of the yearly competition is to demonstrate the power of open data sets and highlight the community-wide benefits using them can have on policy and decision-making around current social, economic and environmental issues.
Competitors will analyze open data sets provided by various organizations, including New Brunswick’s provincial and municipal governments, before presenting a recommendation, story or new idea based on their findings.
“This year we have almost 40 teams registered – a record number, proving that this competition has become an essential event for members of academia, industry, and government to see data,” says Dr. Mitra.
The six teams who make the final will go head to head in front of a panel of judges composed of representatives from government, academia, research foundations, and industry leaders in data science. An infographic of each team’s results will also be displayed on posters in the main lobby of the Wu Conference Centre.
This year’s competition includes a presentation by Dalhousie University PhD candidate Paola Beneras titled “The Power of Data: Reading Numbers for Evidence-Based Decisions.” The talk will examine how data can be used to inform decisions whilst highlighting the importance of presenting it in a way that makes it accessible and digestible to readers and policy makers.
Members of the public and students are invited to watch the competition and will have the chance to vote for winner of the Viewers’ Choice Prize.
Key times:
- 8:30 a.m. Preliminary round of presentations
- 11:45 a.m. Paola Beneras presents “The Power of Data: Reading Numbers for Evidence-Based Decisions.”
- 12:45 p.m. Finalists pitch their presentations to judges
- 2:30 p.m. Winners to be announced
Media contact: Fiona Hendrie