Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
Overview
Projects
- Global, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- September 2023 - Ongoing
- Technology and Democracy
During these 2 hour sessions, we leverage the best of our experience conducting the trilingual Book and Movie Club “Technology Through Feminist Lenses” to conduct an interactive workshop titled “Eureka Moment: Feminism, Culture, and AI to Reimagine Our Futures”. The ultimate goal is to foster critical and transformative dialogue about artificial intelligence (AI) and technology through an intersectional feminist perspective by leveraging the Eureka methodology. The workshop has been presented at several international events, including MozFest 2023, the Code for All Summit 2023, CryptoRave 2024, Fórum da Internet No Brasil (FIB14) 2024, ACM FAccT 2024, and the Global Digital Development Forum (GDDF) 2024.
- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Mexico
- February - June 2023
- Technology and Democracy
To fill the information gap brought on by complex migratory processes, poor institutional communication, and lack of trust in authorities, Latin American migrant communities transiting through Mexico on their way to the USA often resort to the use of social media and instant messaging apps. While sometimes a source of helpful information, these are also polluted with disinformation and scams, ranging from alleged “opening” days/hours of Mexico’s northern border, to fallacious legal advice, to false job and visa offerings. In collaboration with Conexión Migrante, VerificadoMX, PolitiFact and The Associated Press, the DPA team investigated the business models that leverage and finance the disinformation that can put migrants’ lives at risk. The investigation was published by multiple media outlets, including our partner Proceso.
- Argentina, Europe, Kenya, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Mexico, Philippines, Spain, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
- April 2024 - September 2024
- Data Feminism, Geographies of Inequalities
Data-Pop Alliance (DPA), in collaboration with Open Data Watch (ODW), was tasked with creating a pioneering gender data framework for urban environments, commissioned by the City Hub and Network for Gender Equity (CHANGE). This framework was intended for implementation across CHANGE’s network cities, starting with Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Nairobi, and Quezon City as the initial participants. Capitalizing on DPA’s and ODW’s specialized knowledge in data analytics and gender-focused research, the project’s core objective was to provide a robust measurement of gender equity within varied city landscapes. The project’s deliverables included: A comprehensive blueprint outlining the essential requirements and stages for cities to prepare and deploy the framework; The framework itself, featuring specific dimensions and indicators that assessed both the processes and physical form of the cities concerning gender equity; and a specialized data collection tool, complete with training materials, to enable cities to gather and process all necessary data to effectively utilize the framework. This multi-faceted approach ensured that the participating cities were equipped with the knowledge, tools, and methods required to drive meaningful progress in the realm of urban gender equity.
- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Uruguay
- Dates: March 2024 - June 2024
- Data Feminism
- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Mexico
- February - October 2024
- Data Feminism
DPA, in collaboration with Abogadas MX, led the design and development of the Central Database and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for the “Standards for Diversity and Inclusion in Law Firms in Mexico” Program. This included the creation of a survey to collect gender-focused data from law firms. This initiative enabled the organization to systematically gather and manage information from specific law firms about gender equality and the implemented policies, facilitating the generation of recommendations aimed at improving internal policies to address gender inequality issues and promote the mainstreaming of gender perspectives in the legal sector.
- Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
- October 2023 - May 2024
- Data Feminism
- Global, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
- 2022 - 2024
- Data Feminism
The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) awarded DPA’s Data Feminism Program a twelve-month, $300,000 grant to support our work advancing intersectional, data-driven research, training and advocacy to continue fostering gender equality across Latin America and the Caribbean, the MENA region and Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, the grant was renewed for $400,000 to continue supporting existing and new Data Feminism Initiatives, including the Book and Movie Club, “Technology Through Feminist Lenses.”
- Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- 2016 - 2019
- AI and Statistics for the SDGs
Data-Pop Alliance offered training in São Paulo with the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (CETIC) and the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC) annually from 2016 through 2019. The 2019 edition included a session by DPA Director and Co-Founder Emmanuel Letouzé titled “Data for Public Statistics: Data Science, Big Data & Artificial Intelligence”, click below to explore it.
- Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Mexico
- 2016 - 2019
- AI and Statistics for the SDGs
In partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), DPA offered a series of workshops focused on Big Data and the Digital Economy in the Latin American and Caribbean region. These workshops were designed for development practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. Five editions were delivered in: Santiago de Chile (March 2016), São Paulo (September 2017) —in partnership with Cetic.br—, Mexico City (October 2017) —in collaboration with the National Digital Strategy (EDN) program and the MIT Sloan School of Management—, Santo Domingo (April 2019), and Bogotá (May 2019) —in partnership with DANE.
- Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- November 2019
- AI and Statistics for the SDGs
In November 2019, Data-Pop Alliance, in partnership with ECLAC and IBGE, conducted its first technical workshop in Rio de Janeiro, tailored specifically to the needs of the staff at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The goal was to help them to build and strengthen internal capacities to leverage web data collection and analysis in their projects. The workshop emerged as part of the broader training program carried out with ECLAC in the Latin America and Caribbean region: “Big Data for Measuring the Digital Economy”.
- Colombia, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- 2017 - 2021
- Geographies of Inequalities
Increasingly, data and information are being promoted as a powerful tool to understand and prevent crime and violence. However, there are two key questions that remain largely unanswered: 1) Why is crime clustering in certain neighborhoods? 2) Why do certain individuals turn to crime and not others? Leveraging sophisticated analyzes about urban crime and violence in Latin America and the Caribbean cities, Ciudata Segura analyzed the local determinants of crime and the role of impunity and social networks in driving criminal behavior through the collection and analysis of official and non-official data sources to produce public policy recommendations and action plans. The project, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and developed in collaboration with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), Fundazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), the MIT Media Lab and Citizens Crime Commission, began in 2017 and has resulted in close coordination with local governments and stakeholders, in addition to: the creation of roadmaps, data audits, and capability assessments to determine further interventions; and the production of research instrument for analysis, including a series of surveys and the creation of a visualization tool.
- Colombia, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- November 2019
- AI and Statistics for the SDGs
This series of workshops organized by Data-Pop Alliance, in coordination with GIZ and GIZ Colombia, addressed key terms, necessary tools, and challenges in the Big Data and sustainable development landscape, focusing on the applicability of these information sources in projects related to climate change adaptation and mitigation. This in-person workshop provided an introduction to the “3 C’s of Big Data” as a basis for the development of a Project Lab, enabling participants to incorporate new sources of information in the development of climate change projects.
- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Mexico
- 2018
- Geographies of Inequalities
Data-Pop Alliance and Oxfam México formed a partnership through “DataMex”, with the goal of advancing research and the application of Big Data for sustainable development in Mexico. This agreement, signed in late 2018, has since led to a consultancy and scoping study to identify the areas in which Big Data could be employed to better understand inequalities that have not been analyzed in depth. The resulting project was “Mundos Paralelos“, which focused on areas lacking in understanding and new perspectives that could provide critical insights into the work of Oxfam Mexico.
- Colombia, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- June 2017
- Geographies of Inequalities
Four research papers were developed in collaboration with and funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) between 2016 and 2019 as part of a joint program with Data-Pop Alliance and research partners, titled “Strengthening the Evidence-Base for Leveraging Big Data to Address Global Development Challenges”. This paper, “Characterizing and Analyzing Urban Dynamics in Bogota”, utilized open data and mobile phone records to identify physical characteristics and socioeconomic conditions in the city which have an impact on crime proliferation. The results indicated that urban diversity and natural surveillance theories play a significant role in the proliferation of crime, and this knowledge can be exploited in urban planning to prevent crime. Key research partners included Fundazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) and the MIT Media Lab.
- Colombia, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- September 2017 - December 2018
- Just Digital Transformations
The MIT Media Lab and DPA provided technical assistance to iNNpulsa—Colombia’s entrepreneurship and innovation agency—and to the National Planning Department (DNP), in the design and development of the country’s first national Big Data strategy, which was presented to the President of Colombia in 2020. After intensive research, DPA produced nine diagnostic documents that were used to identify priority areas and specific actions that generated the necessary synergies to achieve four strategic objectives of the project:
1) Strengthen the Big Data ecosystem in the country;
2) Develop analytical capabilities for greater and better use of data;
3) Foster the digital economy; and
4) Promote the adoption of Big Data solutions and AI for public administration.
- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- November - December 2021
- Technology and Democracy
This Book and Movie Club, a joint effort between Eureka and DPA, focused on addiction, disinformation, and violence stemming from social media in the context of Latin America. The Club featured two documentaries, a fiction movie, and a book related to the topic that addressed questions such as, Does monetization imply addition? How is social media used to spread hatred and violence? What is surveillance capitalism, and how does it relate to the business model of Internet platforms? The Club concluded with a panel discussion led by Paula Villarreal (Data Scientist & Full Stack Engineer), Matías González (Observatorio Legislativo del CELE), and Julie Ricard (Eureka Founder), and moderated by Ivette Yáñez (DPA).
- Ecuador, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- January - October 2020
- Just Digital Transformations
In partnership with the GIZ Data Lab, this project sought to create a Toolkit to guide GIZ in the use of nontraditional data sources throughout the project lifecycle. The tool was designed and developed from a thorough analysis of GIZ processes, with the goal of understanding how and where non-traditional sources of data could be leveraged in the formulation, design, implementation, and evaluation of their projects. The Toolkit, designed with a user-centered approach, was tested and tried during two workshops to support GIZ Ecuador’s “Ciudades Intermedia Sostenibles” II.
- Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
- May 2022 - Ongoing
- Geographies of Inequalities
The current debate on the collection and use of race-related data is shaped by country-specific cultural practices and historical backgrounds. Nevertheless, there is a pressing need for more and better racial data in all societies, as a prerequisite for addressing related inequalities. The Racial Justice Data Project contributed to this movement of greater visibility for racial data while focusing on regions that have not been sufficiently explored (Europe and Latin America) and will eventually cover multiple racial-related themes within the platform.
The project provided valuable inputs that can be used by a wide range of actors, from civil society, journalists, researchers, and individuals to advance advocacy causes through data-driven strategies, to public or private stakeholders as a fundamental tool for evidence-based decision-making. To achieve these goals, the project leveraged data from a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional sources, including existing datasets, reports from civil society organizations, legal documents, and social media to present a fuller picture of the effects of racism in an accessible and actionable manner.
- Colombia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Uruguay
- March 2022 - May 2023
- Resilient Livelihoods and Ecosystems
- Brazil, Colombia, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Mexico
- January - June 2019
- AI and Statistics for the SDGs
EmpoderaData built upon the success of the “Quantitative Step” (Q-Step) program, which was developed as a strategic response to the shortage of quantitatively-skilled social science graduates in the United Kingdom. Together, University of Manchester and Data-Pop Alliance expanded upon the program’s excellent results, exploring this model in the Global South as the “EmpoderaData Project”. The project aimed to promote a virtuous cycle of social transformation by fostering data literacy skills applied to addressing our society’s most pressing issues within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).