VIDEO | Data4Good - Quality Education Award Winner: UNICC

(US and Canada) CDO Magazine and EDM Council congratulate UNICC for winning the inaugural 2022 Data4Good Award in the Quality Education category. Chief Data and Analytics Officer Anusha Dandapani and Data Analyst Chiara Rucco from the United Nations International Computing Center (UNICC) speak with Mark Johnson, Regional VP of Fusion Alliance and CDO Magazine Editorial Board Member, in a video interview about the center’s vision, the Data for Good Hackathon, the role of data governance, and the UNICC’s plans.

Dandapani states that the organization’s strategic vision is to build digital business support to address the United Nations’ SDG goals. She emphasizes that data programs must focus on the next level regarding humanitarian use cases in analytics, AI, and machine learning.

She mentions that the UNICC’s Data For Good Hackathon focused on opportunities for students and the academic community to cultivate solutions for real-world problems. Dandapani notes that the organization’s aim was to develop academic collaboration and a network of cross-functional themes from industry experts.

Discussing plans for leveraging data for the betterment of society, she emphasizes that the UNICC is focusing on consulting, designing, and setting up implementation and support services using the technology stack, especially for data. Dandapani adds that the goal is to bring together public sector expertise, professional services, and academia.

Sharing her views on governance, Dandapani states that data serves better only when it is governed better. She reveals that the UNICC built its model around holding everyone accountable to help decision makers become more data driven. That’s why data reliability, consistency, and quality are front and center in the decision-making process, Dandapani notes.

Adding her views, Rucco says that events like the Data For Good Hackathon are viable options for students to practice with real-use cases and data sets and to approach their learning collaboratively, improving soft skills through experience. She adds that involvement in the UN’s challenge is one way to enhance students' preparedness to face the industry and market regarding critical and creative thinking and personal autonomy.

In conclusion, Rucco adds that in her everyday role, she supports UN partner agencies in their progress on SDG goals by presenting data-driven insights to help them improve the value of their data resources.

CDO Magazine appreciates Anusha Dandapani and Chiara Rucco for sharing their insights and UNICC data success stories with our global community.