African projects selected for $10-million data.org challenge

AFRICAN PROJECTS AMONG AWARDEES OF $10M INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND RECOVERY CHALLENGE

At least four African-based and Africa-focused projects are among the awardees of the $10-million Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge launched by data.org in partnership with the Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth, and The Rockefeller Foundation.

data.org announced the awardees of the challenge, which aims to tackle society’s greatest challenges by harnessing the power of data science to help people and communities thrive, in January. data.org executive director Daniel Mikhailov explained that the Challenge was created to kickstart breakthrough data science ideas and also to provide financial support to existing innovative social impact projects. “We have been enormously inspired by the innovative thinking of these projects that implement programs and policies to lift up all segments of society,” added Mikhailov.

Awardees were selected based on exceptional use of data science to advance inclusive growth. They are located in the U.S., Chile, Mozambique, Togo, Australia, Mexico, India, Denmark, Switzerland, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

Mikhailov said other than impact, awardees were also selected based on their potential for replicability, scalability, and practicality.

“The eight projects recognised by The Challenge not only are visionary, but also practical. They are the type of project we expect to one day fundamentally – and positively – impact the way we live our lives,” said Mikhailov.

Mastercard vice chairman Mike From an pointed out that data.org was launched a year ago with the belief that the world’s most pressing challenges and the lives of vulnerable people could be improved with data-driven insights. “As we begin to recover from the global pandemic, today’s awardees are providing innovative approaches to ensuring economic growth is inclusive and sustainable for everyone. We’re committed to building a global network of data scientists solving these problems – because that’s what is needed to build the field of data science for social impact,” said Froman.

Rockefeller Foundation president Rajic J.Shah said the awardees leverage the latest data science techniques to build a world where entrepreneurs have fair access to credit regardless of their gender, where workers have analytical tools to chart their own course, and where wage theft is a thing of the past.

“We founded data.org to reclaim data science as a tool for social impact. This cohort of projects makes that ambition real at a time when the need for an inclusive recovery couldn’t be greater,” said Shah.

The winning projects include the use of AI to increase credit access for female entrepreneurs, data models to track how internet connectivity disproportionately impacts low-income communities, and an open-source quality of life map index to highlight where investment is needed most, among others.

The African-based and Africa-focused awardees are:

Fundación Capital, UX and Data Elevates (Mozambique)

This project will combine Mozambique’s largest digital job platform for informal workers with an AI-powered virtual assistant, and apply algorithms to provide workers with targeted insights into the labor market to improve job opportunities and financial outcomes. Over 54% of Mozambique’s adult workforce is in the informal sector, and information gaps on demand trends mean that opportunities for workers to improve their livelihoods are limited.

GiveDirectly & CEGA (USA, Togo)

GiveDirectly and CEGA will demonstrate a new model for rapid assistance where machine learning-based targeting will guide the delivery of digital cash transfers. Data science will enable GiveDirectly to better assess communities who are most in need of cash transfers.

Solar Sister (USA, Nigeria, Tanzania)

Solar Sister supports local women in Africa to create clean energy businesses. Through data science Solar Sister will gather insights, analyse customer data, and predict market characteristics to inform focal areas as they scale into additional emerging markets.

Women’s World Banking (USA and Switzerland, with partners in Mexico, Nigeria, and India)

Women’s World Banking will increase credit access for low-income female entrepreneurs by building a technical assistance facility that uses innovative lending methodologies.

In addition to the eight awardees selected, The Paul Ramsay Foundation has selected and will be supporting the Melbourne School of Government’s data science project as part of the $10M Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge. ai