While there have been amazing achievements with machine learning in recent years, reproducing results for state-of-the-art deep learning methods is seldom straightforward. Three leading data scientists share their views at recent WIDS conferences on the importance of establishing structures, standards and best practices to guide us towards consistently producing high quality science and reliable findings.

Would you like to have a positive impact on the women in your community? When you become a WiDS Ambassador, you provide inspiration, education, community, and support by hosting a WiDS conference or datathon workshop. Your WiDS event can help normalize the presence of women in data science by featuring outstanding local women doing outstanding work in the field! 

Millicent Ochieng is a Data and Applied Scientist at Microsoft Africa Research Institute MARI, a WiDS Kenya Ambassador & WiDS Africa Co-Ambassador.

Jessica Bohórquez, investigadora de la Universidad de Adelaide en Australia y consultora de la industria, está utilizando IA y transitorios de presión para inspeccionar y monitorear tuberías de agua para detectar fugas. Ella habla sobre su doctorado, su trabajo en la industria y sus consejos para seguir una carrera en ciencia de datos.

​Data science, machine learning and AI have the potential to have a major impact on the healthcare industry. In several WiDS Worldwide conference panels and technical talks, experts describe the challenges and opportunities for applying data science, machine learning and AI to healthcare research and patient care.

Íngrid Munné-Collado, a Data Scientist with the Danish weather and energy forecasting company ConWX, describes how she overcame a fear of coding to successfully build a career applying data science to renewable energy.

​Dr. Karolina Urbanska, a data scientist working for Teach First in the UK, has spent her career using data science to better understand human behavior. On a new WiDS Podcast episode whe discusses her work as a data science and psychology researcher, her decision to leave academia, and her learnings along the way.

​The pandemic has changed the way that people think about their lives, and their work. A recent survey conducted by Gartner suggests that instead of using the term ‘great resignation’, organizations need to think about the ‘great reflection’, as employees are seeking more purpose in their work.

​Marianna Pekar, Chief Data Scientist at MartinJenkins, has successfully built her career in data science by seizing every opportunity to learn, as well as contributing to the WiDS community in New Zealand and Central and Eastern Europe. 

​WiDS Co-Founder Margot Gerritsen welcomes her new podcast co-host Cindy Orozco, as they interview each other on a new WiDS Podcast episode about their career paths to data science, coping with the imposter syndrome, and successfully juggling busy lives.

WiDS Ambassadors continue hosting regional events, bringing WiDS to their local communities. To date nearly 87 WiDS regional events have taken place, with dozens of additional events happening through the end of June.

Whether it’s asking Siri about the weather, Google for directions, or a customer service bot about your bank account, Natural Language Processing (NLP) is an expected capability across applications today. In WiDS Conference keynotes, workshops and technical talks, experts explore various uses for NLP and how it is shaping how people interact with computers.

Dr. Tanzila Saba, a Research Professor, Associate Chair of Information Systems Department, leader of Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics (AIDA) Lab and WiDS Ambassador at Prince Sultan University in Saudi Arabia for the past five years, supports and inspired women to pursue STEM careers in Saudi Arabia.

This year WiDS ambassadors hosted in-person, online, and hybrid events to bring WiDS to their local communities. To date, nearly 70 WiDS regional events have taken place, with dozens of additional events happening in the coming months.

Financial services is an industry built on data and not surprisingly data science plays a pivotal role in helping financial firms assess risk, detect fraud, make profitable decisions, and improve the customer experience. The Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference and podcast series shares the perspectives of leading experts on the vital role of data science in financial services.

Tolúlọpẹ́ Ògúnrẹ̀mí’s involvement with WiDS began as a WiDS London ambassador, working with Stanford prior to getting accepted to the Stanford Computer Science (CS) PhD program. She has been able to combine a love of languages with her ability in mathematics and computer science and is now focused on Natural Language Processing (NLP) for low-resource languages, particularly in sub-Saharan African languages. Tolúlọpẹ́ came full circle with WiDS, attending and volunteering for the WiDS Worldwide event in 2022.

The WiDS Datathon is a community-driven program that encourages  all data science enthusiasts to hone their data science skills. This year, the WiDS Datathon social impact challenge was focused on climate change. Dozens of WiDS ambassadors hosted WiDS Datathon workshops where they helped their communities to get started on Kaggle, form teams, get mentorship, and even submit their first models. Around 40 workshops were hosted in over 22 countries including Kenya, Nepal, the UK, and Peru.

On March 7, 2022 more than 10,000 people from 99 countries participated in the Women in Data Science (WiDS) hybrid conference held in-person at Stanford University, and online in a virtual event platform and via livestream. The in-person conference included keynote addresses, technical vision talks, panel discussions, and a fireside chat. The online audience could view the in-person conference broadcast, while the virtual event platform attendees also attended workshops, meet-the-speaker sessions, a career expo with our sponsors, and one-on-one networking.

The 7th Annual Women in Data Science (WiDS) Worldwide conference will be a hybrid conference, held in-person at Stanford University and online on March 7, 2022. WiDS Worldwide is a technical conference featuring outstanding women doing outstanding work in data science and related fields. This year’s conference will feature keynote addresses, several technical talks, panel discussions, and time for networking. The simultaneous online conference will include a broadcast of the conference at Stanford, in addition to workshops, speaker interviews, a career expo, and networking.

Join us online on March 7, 2022, for the Women in Data Science (WiDS) Worldwide conference, a technical conference featuring outstanding women doing exceptional work in data science and related fields, in a wide variety of domains. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.