Meet the AUT Students working at CSDA
November-2018
A new appreciation for the role of data analytics in improving people’s lives has been a revelation for one of CSDA’s recent recruits.
“Decision Making: Human vs. Machine” (free public lecture)
November-2018
This December, Stats NZ and CSDA are presenting a free lecture hosted by international tech ethics expert Lorena Jaume-Palasi. With a background in founding ethics organisations including AlgorithmWatch and the Ethical Tech Society, and consulting to numerous governments and organisations in this space, Jaume-Palasi will present her experiences and recommendations.
CSDA takes a collaborative role in the new US research centre
October-2018
CSDA Co-director Rhema Vaithianathan will be collaborating with the newly established Centre for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Policy, Research and Training (CICM) at Washington University of St. Louis.
Taking Predictive Analytics with Australian researchers, government
September-2018
CSDA co-director Professor Rhema Vaithianathan had the opportunity to lead an Australian roundtable about the use of predictive analytics for positive impact in September.
CSDA research in upcoming Child Wellbeing Research Seminar (Wellington)
August-2018
Matt Walsh, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Data Analytics (CSDA), will share new research on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) at a Child Wellbeing Research Seminar hosted by the Ministry of Social Development in Wellington on 11 September.
Seeking feedback on the NZ Guidelines for Trusted Data Use
August-2018
A year after the launch of the draft NZ Guidelines for Trusted Data Use: ‘A Path to Social License”, the authors have begun to explore how useful the Guidelines are for organisations, and what updates may be needed.
Helping Government to develop Algorithm Guidelines
August-2018
The Government Chief Data Steward, Liz McPherson, has commissioned Professor Rhema Vaithianathan, co-director of the Centre for Social Data Analytics at AUT, to review international guidelines for the government use of algorithms, and help develop a ‘best practice’ approach for New Zealand.
Meet the Team: CSDA’s Research Fellow Oleksandr Fialko
August-2018
A background in physics is an essential tool for Oleksandr Fialko who joined CSDA last year as a Research Fellow in Data Science and is working to improve the accuracy of models being used to predict child welfare outcomes.
Researchers ask 2000 trainee doctors what it’s like to walk in their shoes
July-2018
Researchers working with Health Education England (HEE) in the Wessex region have launched a study that aims to understand how doctors in training in the area experience their working lives.
“Bias Detectives: the researchers striving to make algorithms fair” -CSDA’s work in Nature news.
July-2018
In late June, an in-depth article and podcast about the CSDA’s work on the Allegheny Family Screening Tool were featured on the Nature news website.
CSDA shares child welfare predictive risk modelling work in Chile
June-2018
Professor Rhema Vaithianathan, co-director for the Centre of Social Data Analytics, recently gave a keynote address on child welfare predictive risk models at the Adolfo Ibáñez University (UAI) in Santiago, Chile.
International project explores social impact of algorithms
May-2018
A project led by CSDA’s Co-Director Rhema Vaithianathan, is exploring community perspectives on the use of algorithms in government in New Zealand and the United States.
Surprise findings about interventions helping sick workers
April-2018
A forthcoming paper in Labour Economics finds at, overall, providing sick workers with more intensive interventions worsened their labour market outcomes.
Social Workers in Schools evaluations: A use case for IDI but we can do more
April-2018
A study co-authored by CSDA researchers has identified positive effects for some student groups from the government-funded Social Workers in Schools (SWiS) programme. The paper is the first of two studies recently published by the Ministry of Social Development.
CSDA eNews – April 2018
April-2018
This issue: CSDA risk modelling in the New York Times, funding award to study community perspectives on government use of algorithms, CSDA papers in Children and Youth Services Review, Pediatrics and American Journal of Public Health and meet CSDA Senior Research Fellow Matt Walsh.
Full house for Wellington workshop on child poverty, risk and resilience
March-2018
There was a great turnout at CSDA’s recent Wellington workshop, attended by individuals from thirteen government agencies and several private sector organisations.
Analysis of screening tool wins best paper award at international fairness conference
February-2018
A paper that analyses the application of risk modelling to child maltreatment screening decisions will receive a best paper award at the 2018 Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAT)* in New York in late February.
“Can an Algorithm tell when Kids are in Danger?” – Our research in the NYT
January-2018
An in-depth feature about a CSDA research project, the Allegheny Family Screening Tool (AFST), ran in the New York Times Magazine in January.