In June 2024, ConCiencia Social (CCS) held its second annual conference series, which was a great success. This year’s event took place at a new venue in Mérida, as well as an additional event in Orizaba. The conference provided a unique space for the exchanging ideas and innovative solutions between academics, the private sector, civil society, and government, fostering local knowledge creation and network formation.
What is ConCiencia Social?
ConCiencia Social (CCS) is a citizen initiative aimed at disseminating research, projects, and sustainable ideas with social impact through the exchange of scientific, cultural, and artistic knowledge, customs, and practices in Mexico and Latin America. CCS’s vision includes hosting free events open to the general public, in order to promote the exchange of ideas which contribute to social development and local community participation.
CCS 2024
This year, CCS was held in two venues: in Mérida, Yucatán, on June 21 and 22 at the Centro Peninsular en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (CEPHCIS) of UNAM; and in Orizaba, Veracruz, on June 28 and 29 at the Centro Orizaba de Convenciones (COCO). The choice of these cities and venues aligns with CCS’s goal of decentralizing discussion spaces in Mexico, as most similar events usually take place Mexico City in exclusive venues that are not open to the general public.
This year, the conferences covered a wide range of topics, including mental health, data science for public policy, urban resilience, and ethics in artificial intelligence. Some of the outstanding speakers included:
- Horacio Jimenez Soto (Master of Science and Engineer):
- Spoke on Electrical Neural Stimulation using Computer-Generated Artificial Brain Impulses.
- Fernanda Sobrino (Assistant Professor at the School of Government of the Tecnológico de Monterrey)
- Spoke on Data Science and Organized Crime.
- Jesús M. Siqueiros (researcher at UNAM’s IIMAS in Mérida):
- Gave an innovative talk titled “Thinking the World Together with Maps, Games, and Computers,” demonstrating how these tools can facilitate a deeper and more collaborative understanding of the world.
The Data-Pop Alliance (DPA) team participated in these lectures as well. Below the DPA team is listed, alongside the topics they discussed at the event.
- Zinnya del Villar, Director of Technology, Data and Innovation:
- Conference: Data Science for Public Policy.
- Alina Sotolongo, Data Scientist and Machine Learning Operations Officer:
- Conference: Mathematical Modeling and Data Science in Public Health.
- Enrique Bonilla, Data Scientist and Data Engineer, and Adjani Gama Dessavre, Data Scientist and Front-end Developer:
- Conference: Ethics, Artificial Intelligence, and Cinema.
- Agustina Pérez Mirianco, Program Lead of the Geographies of Inequities Program and the Resilient Livelihoods and Ecosystems Program:
- Conference: Invisible Gaps in Urban Resilience: An Exploratory Study of Pluvial Floods in Montevideo.
- Ivette Yáñez Soria, Strategic Communications Director and Senior Researcher in the Technology and Democracy Program:
- Conference: Gender (In)Equity in the Academic and Labor Sphere: STEM, Intersectionality, and Impacts.
Acknowledgements from the Organizing Team
ConCiencia Social 2024 success would not have been possible without the support of generous sponsors and partners. We’d especially like to thank Data-Pop Alliance, the School of Government and Public Transformations of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, the Orizaba Center, the Technical Insitute of Orizaba (ITO), and the Research Institute for Applied Mathematics and Systems Research (IIMAS) of UNAM. Their commitment and collaboration were vital in making this event possible.
We hope to continue these conferences and contribute to the collaborative vision of a better future where all voices are heard!
Adjani, Enrique y Zinnya.
