A community-focused data designer eager to work hand-in-hand with various groups
In today's discussions, throw around phrases like "I've got the data to back this up" as if it's a holy grail for rationality. However, Catherine D'Ignazio, MIT associate professor and data feminism proponent, persists in asking more fundamental questions—questions about the origins, collection, and gaps in the data being waved about.
With a broader vision, she aims to use data to address social issues, particularly those affecting underprivileged communities. As she sees it, fostering a knowledgeable population equipped with data-driven arguments for democracy necessitates pondering over the design of data structures that supports this pursuit.
D'Ignazio's work comes to light in various areas, such as the problem of feminicide in Latin America. By collaborating with human rights defenders, she's given life to AI tools designed to support their work documenting cases and building databases. This data gaps the oft-incomplete state records, providing a global platform for recognizing the issue's extent.
Her forthcoming book, "Counting Feminicide," catalogs this process and has brought the topic to a broader audience. Where once there was a data vacuum, there are now substantial databases addressing the issue on multiple continents. This highlights the surging trend of grassroots data science and citizen activism as essential forms of civic engagement.
For D'Ignazio, a vital question to ask is, "Innovation for whom, and by whom?" As a faculty member in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning and MIT's Data and Feminism Lab director, her research, and teaching have earned her tenure earlier this year.
With a background in international relations, software development, digital design, and education, D'Ignazio's time at the MIT Media Lab has been a melting pot for her interests. There, she pondered how software and databases could have greater creative applications and more socially just uses, shaping a more participatory and equitable future for all.
To ensure data science remains accessible to all, D'Ignazio co-organized a feminist hackathon called "Make the Breast Pump Not Suck." The event attracted hundreds of participants working on innovative technological solutions to address postpartum health and infant feeding challenges. Despite primarily focusing on data architecture, data visualization, and the relationship between data production and society, she also dabbled in housing data issues.
Through her work, D'Ignazio seeks to challenge the structural inequalities perpetuated by data and technology. She believes that progress can be made in applying data science to society, often by developing tools for civic participation. As she emphasizes, technology should be designed to help communities gain power.
- The public discourse often relies on the phrase "I've got the data to back this up," suggesting that data is the key to rationality.
- Catherine D'Ignazio, an MIT associate professor and data feminism proponent, questions the origins, collection, and gaps in the data being used.
- Her goal is to use data to address social issues, particularly those affecting underprivileged communities, as a means to foster a knowledgeable population for democracy.
- D'Ignazio has collaborated with human rights defenders to develop AI tools that document cases of feminicide in Latin America, filling data gaps in oft-incomplete state records.
- Her forthcoming book, "Counting Feminicide," addresses the issue on multiple continents, highlighting the trend of grassroots data science and citizen activism.
- D'Ignazio, a faculty member in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, questions the mindset of "Innovation for whom, and by whom?"
- With tenure earned earlier this year, she continues to research and teach, with a melting pot of interests including software development, digital design, and education.
- At the MIT Media Lab, she explores how data-driven arguments can be used for education-and-self-development, personal-growth, and learning, particularly in the fields of data-and-cloud-computing and technology.
- D'Ignazio co-organized a feminist hackathon, "Make the Breast Pump Not Suck," attracting participants to work on innovative technological solutions for postpartum health and infant feeding challenges.
- Beyond data architecture and visualization, she also delved into housing data issues, aiming to challenge the structural inequalities perpetuated by data and technology.
- D'Ignazio believes progress can be made in applying data science to society by developing tools for civic participation and designing technology to help communities gain power.
