Women in Data Science (WiDS) Initiative

The QUT Centre for Data Science (CDS) is proud to partner with the Australian Data Science Network (ADSN) to help celebrate Women in Data Science!

Panel discussion participants (L-R): Bernadette Giuffrida, Ides Wong, Divya Mehta, Char-lee McLennan, Richi Nayak, Kate Helmstedt

As part of the worldwide Women in Data Science (WiDS) initiative, the Centre hosted an event at QUT on 15 June.

The event featured:

Centre Director Kerrie Mengersen

The Women in Data Science (WiDS) initiative aims to inspire and educate data scientists worldwide, regardless of gender, and to support women in the field. Centre Director Kerrie Mengersen talked about the importance of doing that here in Australia.

“The reason we’re having this event is to raise the profile of women in data science and feel some solidarity around that. We are still a minority in Data Science and in our own different disciplines. I look forward to the day when we’re not having events like this because women in Data Science are so commonplace that we don’t even need to think about it and we can go think about other things,” said Kerrie.

QUT Senior Lecturer Dr Kate Helmstedt served as the WiDS Ambassador for the ADSN and our Centre. She led the panel discussion on the changing world of Data Science.

“The things we focus on and measure in Data Science are rapidly changing. Our access to data has dramatically changed in a short amount of time. Finally, the field of data science and how we think of ourselves as Data Scientists continues to change, and that will continue. So we felt we needed to explore some of this change and what might happen in the next few years,” said Kate, who is also co-lead of the Centre’s Environment and Natural Systems Domain.

Below are videos from Professor Rachel Thomas’ Keynote Address and our WiDS Panel Discussion, “Data Science in a Changing World”

   

Our panellists:

  • Dr Bernadette Giuffrida, Assistant Director, Australian Bureau of Statistics and ABS Co-Chair of Government Statistics at QUT Centre for Data Science
  • Dr Char-lee McLennan, QUT Business School, co-leader of the Social Systems Domain at the QUT Centre for Data Science
  • QUT Assoc Prof Divya Mehta, biostatistician & geneticist, co-leader of the Sports Systems Domain at the QUT Centre for Data Science
  • Dr Ides Wong, Data Strategy Lead at the Queensland Government Department of Health
  • QUT Professor Richi Nayak, Applied Data Science Program Leader at QUT Centre for Data Science

Video: Meet our Women in Data Science in our Centre: