• The visual data representation challenge on gender-based violence aims to make data on sexual assaults more accessible.
• Renowned computer scientist Prof Dame Wendy Hall to inaugurate the competition

With an aim to make data on gender-based violence more accessible, the Social Impact Lab at the UK-based University of Southampton, in collaboration with the International Institute of Information Technology, Bengaluru (IIIT-B), the Web Science Trust and the Red Dot Foundation is going to organize a data visualization challenge called ‘SafeCity Datathon’ on 14^th February at IIIT-B campus in Bengaluru.

Being held for the first time, the competition is a result of collaborative efforts between University of Southampton’s Social Impact Lab, which is also the main organizer, Red Dot Foundation and IIIT-B. In this challenge, 25 participants from IIIT-B will present a visualized representation of data, gathered by SafeCity (a platform by NGO Red Dot Foundation, which crowd maps incidents of gender-based violence) before the judges. The distinguished panel of judges will include lsa D’Silva (CEO-Red Dot Foundation), James Godber from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Dr Pathik Pathak (Director of the Social Impact Lab, University of Southampton), among others.

Talking about the importance of SafeCity Datathon, Dr Pathik Pathak said, “Gender based violence is prevalent in India these days. There is a need to understand the scale of challenge and devise ways to tackle it. It is very important to make data on gender-based violence more accessible and interesting. With the help of crowd mapping, where a group of people create a map of any one thing- in this case, incidents of sexual assault, we will try to determine exact figures or reasons behind gender-based violence.”

During this competition, participants will be given tasks to visualize an all-India dataset of gender based violence and assault by working together with Red Dot Foundation’s SafeCity platform, which maps gender based violence. The contestants will analyse the data and will find creative and powerful ways to visualize and communicate the data to the general population. After working on it over a course of a day, all the teams will present their work before the judges who will judge them on the basis of innovation, creativity and clarity. Top three winners will be selected by the judges and they will be receive vouchers and certificates.

About Social Impact Lab, University of Southampton: The Social Impact Lab at University of Southampton is a multi-award winning centre which nurtures the next generation of social impact leaders by giving them the tools and technology to lead sustainable social change.  The programmes combine intensive skills development and real-world problem solving opportunities to give the skills to make positive change and the confidence to apply these skills across networks, sectors and global contexts.

About IIIT-B: The International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore,a deemed to be university, was established in 1999 with a vision to contribute to the IT world through education and research, entrepreneurship and innovation. The graduate programs at IIIT-B are among the best in the country, offering training oriented towards producing highly qualified practitioners and researchers. As an independent institution and a deemed university, IIIT-B collaborates with the IT industry, leading academic institutions abroad, and eminent scientists and industry leaders to offer students the best possible education.

About Red Dot Foundation: Red Dot Foundation Global was founded in 2017 in the United States to support the work on sexual violence. The NGO works with a mission to end violence against women and girls by using crowdsourced data, community engagement and institutional accountability.

  University of Southampton