Data explorers with an interest in public service are being invited to help shape the next big thing that could help Dundee City Council deliver local services.
Along with its partners at Abertay University and Wittin the council is holding a two day Ethical Data Hack this weekend centred on its Open Data Portal.
Lynne Short convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee said: “You don't need kit or really high level skills, but if you’ve got them, bring them!
“What we definitely do want to see is your love and knowledge of the city and a desire to work with data scientists to explore the facts and figures about the area’s priorities in an exciting new way.”
Head of Abertay’s Division of Computing & Mathematics, Professor Ruth Falconer said: “The Data Hack is a fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in data, computing, programming, games development, ethical hacking or data visualisation, to learn new skills and help create something new that has the potential to be valuable to the citizens of Dundee.
“Having access to local and interesting data sets means the only limit to what can be achieved is the imagination and creativity of the participants, so I’m looking forward to seeing what this year’s group come up with.”
Potential participants can come with friends and form a team, but organisers will also create groups catering to all skill levels to maximise the ability to investigate data challenges and learn new tools.
By the end of the event, which takes place on Saturday (March 9) and Sunday (March 10) from 9.30am to 5pm at Abertay University Kydd Building, it is hoped that participants will come up with ideas that can be presented to the group and further worked up into the next app/game/interactive visualisation to help Dundee City Council deliver services.
Anyone who wants to take part in this free event can sign up at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dundee-together-data-hack-tickets-55571169865
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
