Activity 2.2. DataSkills training program
DataSkills refers to our portfolio of opportunities for students and working professionals to up-skill or re-skill in data science skill sets. DataSkills is designed to be low barrier (no code or low code entry points), rapid (typically 40-60 hour commitments), self-paced, online or in person. DataSkills offers high-touch mentoring where faculty and staff analysts curate individualized learning pathways and act as ‘Data Navigators’ offering on-demand mentoring and scheduled regular check-ins. DataSkills leverages extant online resources (e.g., DataCamp, Software carpentry) and augments them with new custom learning modules developed by the Alliance. DataSkills is offered to individuals and to social sector partners, with the goals of building both personal and organizational capacity for Data Science.
DataSkills Pacific
171 undergraduates from Chaminade, UH Hilo, American Samoa Community College, Northern Marianas College, College of Micronesia-Federated States of Micronesia, Palau Community College, University of Guam, College of the Marshall Island and Hawaii Pacific University
2805 training hours completed to date
Available DataSkills modules are Programming in R (5 courses), Programming in Python (5 courses) and , starting in Fall 2024, 5 courses in ‘AI Skills’
DataSkills is also used as an ‘on-ramp’ to pre-skill students who are participating in other Alliance activities such as the undergraduate research experiences , SPICE Summer Immersion, or employer internships
DataSkills Pacific: Geographical distribution
DataSkills for Organizational Change in the Social Sector
DOCSS works with social sector/non-profit partners to deepen and extend their relations with data to facilitate decision support, resource allocation and organizational storytelling
DOCSS partnerships start with a Landscape Survey and in-depth assessment of organizational capacity, baselines and aspirations for data science
Tailored DataSkills programs are developed by Alliance faculty and staff for each client, including DataSKills, in-person training sessions, on-site course delivery and collaborations on organizational data analysis
Example DOCSS partnerships include:
Habilitat Long-term Addiction Therapeutic Community, Kaneohe, Hawai`i (current)
The Alliance Data Partners Landscape Survey was deployed and partnering meetings were held in Spring 2023 to co-produce the DataSkills strategy for Habilitat
In Fall 2023, 11 staff members completed a 10 week on-site program using Excel, Tableau and basic Python. Use cases included developing a data strategy for the organization, evaluation of gender disparities in privilege/sanction systems, program completion and correlation analyses/feature prediction for program completion and drop-out
In Spring 2024 the program was extended to a cohort residents They successfully completed a six week ‘Navigating Data’ basic skills course and then requested further training. These residents are currently enrolled in the Alliance Sustainability Analytics in R UN Short Course, leading to Certification in May 2024.
Hawai`i Appleseed Center (until 2023)
The Alliance Data Partners Landscape Survey was deployed and partnering meetings were held in Spring 2023 to co-produce the DataSkills strategy for Appleseed
Alliance faculty and staff have conducted an 8 person staff training workshop in R and Python
Alliance faculty are mentoring a continuing cohort of 2 staff on specific data projects relating to tax equity and the Hawaii housing and homeless crises
Appleseed advanced two tax- and housing equity-related use cases with data sets for incorporation into the SPICE 2023 Summer Data Science Immersion, resulting in 4 student projects
Appleseed has hosted Chaminade data science interns working on Native Hawaii incarceration (Zoey Kanaekua is now employed as a Criminal Justice analyst in the State Attorney General’s Office’ and maternal health analytics), Dairian Balai is about to graduate with her MS from Purdue where her thesis studied maternal mortality).
