How to formulate and strategize data-driven solutions for communities

On November 28, 2023, at 7:00 PM, Dr. Syrus Gomari led a mentorship workshop titled “How to Formulate and Strategize Data-Driven Solutions for Community Problems.” It was announced the day before as a second workshop for those who had missed the August session with Dr. Reinabelle Reyes, and like that one it was streamed live on the society’s Facebook page. The announcement introduced the mentor as Engr. Syrus Gomari.

The session took traffic congestion as its starting problem. Dr. Gomari framed sustainable urban mobility around three aims: reducing reliance on private vehicles and promoting public transport, using data to optimize traffic flow as cities grow, and building pedestrian-friendly spaces that encourage walking and cycling.

He then laid out a data science pipeline for community problems in six steps:

1. Problem identification: study the problem and name the specific mobility challenge.
2. Strategy development: formulate data-driven strategies for a sustainable solution.
3. Data collection: gather data from diverse sources.
4. Data analysis: use analytics to derive insights and predict trends.
5. Identification: pinpoint the areas for improvement that the analysis reveals.
6. Presentation and monitoring: communicate findings to stakeholders and keep monitoring whether the solution works.

The workshop

After the talk, participants split into three groups and applied the pipeline to a problem of their choice. The first group took on traffic and sustainable mobility in UP Diliman, proposing ways to analyze traffic flow and public transport within the campus. The second group looked at real estate market analysis, using housing market trends and urban development data to address rising property prices. The third group addressed livelihood transition for public transport drivers, analyzing employment and skill trends to design programs for drivers whose work is changing.

Each group presented its framework, and Dr. Gomari gave feedback and observations on the approaches. The recap, posted on December 11, 2023, was written by Miah Goti-ay and Raymund Glor with photos by Anne Cerise Evangelista. Dr. Gomari later returned as a speaker at the Philippine Junior Data Science Challenge 2024, whose theme was sustainable urban mobility.