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Could IBM’s Watson Get to the Bottom of the Issues in Ferguson?

IBM’s “cognitive supercomputer” is starting to get involved in law enforcement, and now there is speculation that the data-crunching device could get to the bottom of issues with law enforcements in Ferguson, Missouri, and other Black communities across the nation.

IBM’s supercomputer, better known as Watson, garnered a lot of attention after it soared to victory on the Jeopardy game show more than three years ago.

Since then, the computer has been used in matters pertaining to food science, customer service and helping veterans prepare for life after the military.

Now, authorities are hoping Watson can get more involved with police investigations like the shooting of Michael Brown, the unarmed teen who was fatally shot Aug. 9 by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

Police investigations very quickly lead to thousands upon thousands of pages of reports, statements and lab results that investigators have to sort through.

While this can be a lengthy process for a human and leave tons of room for someone to miss a connection, Watson has the potential to complete years of work in a matter of seconds.

“There may be something in lead No. 25 that doesn’t make sense until you get to lead No. 2,050,” Tucson, Arizona, chief of police Roberto Villasenor told Mashable.com “How is a human going to tie those things together? Cognitive computing can.”

While authorities hope to get Watson involved in their investigations, Villasenor made it clear that humans will still need to be very involved in checking out leads and checking Watson’s results.

“It cannot be a computer or a human analysis,” he said. “It has to be an ‘and.’ We say, ‘Watson said this – let’s go check it out.’ ”

The analytical power behind the supercomputer could allow it to get a deeper understanding of issues with police that are currently being debated in situations like Ferguson.

Many influential figures are launching national discussions to try to figure out how to solve law enforcement issues in urban communities that are leading to Black men being killed and aggressive police tactics being used.

This is where Villasenor believes Watson could help sort through the chaos in Ferguson.

“There are a lot of theories being thrown out in the news media,” he said. “Being able to trudge through all the information and data, and put out accurate information, as opposed to speculation or analysis based on speculation and supposed truth that’s being put out through third-party hearsay … You need to filter through that.”

As Mashable writer Pete Pachal pointed out, it isn’t fair to say that all the comments regarding Ferguson have been “third-party hearsay.”

“Most of the commentators on Ferguson cite some statistics or studies to support their point of view,” Pachal wrote.

The difference, however, is that Watson would be able to digest more relevant data, link relevant information and sort through more files than humans can alone.

With the issue of police militarization being prominent in the media, Watson can sort through all the records that reveal what type of equipment was sold to which police agencies and departments and how this equipment has been used so far.

By analyzing this information, Watson can clearly identify if different, more aggressive tactics are being used more often in Black, urban communities.

“There are mounds of information out there that we’re going to need help sorting through to help us not necessarily answer the question, but at least define the problem,” Villasenor added. “We need to get the data-driven information, and not go with anecdotal information because there’s a lot of emotion behind it. We need to try and get past the emotion and find the truth. It may be bad, but we need to find out what it is so we can adjust.”

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Code for Progress Fellowship Brings Politically Minded Organizers Into Tech Industry

The Code for Progress fellowship graduated its first-ever class of newly trained coders last week, introducing a new wave of politically minded entrepreneurs to the technology industry.

The graduation ceremony for the new class of coders looked more like a rally for slain teenager Michael Brown from the outside looking in.

According to GoodBlackNews.org, the ceremony kicked off with a freedom chant in honor of the slain 18-year-old from Ferguson, Missouri. who was fatally shot multiple times Aug. 9 by police officer Darren Wilson.

“What side are you on my people,” the chant asked. “What side are you on?”

The nation’s reaction to the shooting of Brown made it clear that when technology and political activism come together, a powerful movement can be created in an instant.

What began as hashtags on Twitter and Instagram spurred into nationwide marches, rallies and protests pushing for justice for Brown and all the other Black men who have been killed by law enforcement.

The Code for Progress fellowship has always acknowledged this powerful relationship and has been busy training classes of politically minded individuals to provide them with skills that will allow them to exceed in the tech industry.

The fellowship takes things far beyond the world of social media, however.

The new graduates spent four months learning from instructor Aliya Rahman.

Rahman taught the class a handful of different coding languages they will need to exceed in the tech industry.

While the fellowship focuses on bringing politically minded individuals into the tech space, it also caters to minorities and aims to help solve the diversity issue that currently exists in the technology field.

Diversity statistics revealed by companies such as Google and Facebook revealed that the vast majority of their employees are White males.

For both companies, about 60 percent of their employees were male with less than 5 percent of all employees being African-American.

According to Rahman, the fellowship can help improve those numbers by giving minorities access to the education they need.

“Folks who are in communities of color have a higher probability of going to a school that doesn’t teach computer science,” she said. “Seven kids took the advanced placement computer science exam in Washington, D.C., [last year] compared to hundreds in Maryland and Virginia.”

Rahman also pointed out that many women and minorities are intimidated by the college-level computer science course because they are “unwelcoming” and tend to have “unsupportive” faculty.

Lastly, the cost of the classes makes them largely inaccessible to many minorities, she added.

While Rahman believes the fellowship has the ability to train people of color and women to kick start a career in the tech industry, she believes cultural issues in America could still pose a serious problem.

She explained that when Google responded to backlash about its diversity statistics, the company immediately suggested free classes for women and people of color.

According to Rahman, however, many minorities and women are already qualified for the job but are passed up for leadership positions.

“I think affinity groups in organizations play an incredible role in creating community, but in terms of pipelining [people of color] into major positions of leadership – who holds the power?” Rahman said.

Despite the cultural obstacles, the fellowship will continue to push forward with its mission.

The Code for Progress has already made plans to graduate two more classes of fellows next year.

 

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Black Entrepreneurs Ready to Change the Face of the Tech Industry

An overwhelming majority of entrepreneurs in the tech industry are white and male. But through better education, assistance from venture capitalists and support from major companies, the industry could be on the brink of a major shakeup.

Companies like Facebook and Google recently disclosed statistics about the demographics of their workforces, which confirmed what many had already believed – the faces behind these companies are mostly white males.

Out of Facebook’s nearly 7,000 employees, 69 percent are males. Out of all of its employees in the U.S., nearly 60 percent are white.

Google’s report, which was released in January, revealed similar numbers.

Roughly 70 percent of Google’s employees are men, and more than 60 percent are white. About 2 percent are Black.

So what is causing such a drastic race and gender gap in employees at major tech companies?

According to the panelists at Technoir, it has a lot to do with education and support.

Technoir, which was held in August, is the first in a series of discussions and networking events created to examine the challenges and opportunities that Black entrepreneurs often face.

One of the main challenges the event’s panelists discussed was the importance of quality education.

Aaron Saunders, chief executive of Clearly Innovative, pointed out that youths need to be skilled in mathematics and science in order to succeed in the tech industry.

Not only that, but they need to be in an environment where they can learn about all the different careers that the tech industry has to offer.

Saunders has already co-founded a summer camp and academic program at Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science in Washington, D.C., called Startup Middle School.

The program gives its young members more experience using science, math and technology to solve a variety of different problems.

According to Saunders, it was not only troubling that the students were not given many opportunities to build their math and science skills outside of his camp, but also that they had never even met anyone who worked in the technology industry.

“These are the things that make a difference,” he said. “These are the things that move the needle.”

Meanwhile, other panelists stressed that the right education will not be enough to create a more diverse space in the tech industry.

Minority tech entrepreneurs need the same support and financial backing that white males are often awarded.

“A lot of these firms, their diversity is in my opinion shameful,” said Justin Maddox, the chief executive of CrowdTrust. “It’s extremely lame in 2014 for you not to be able to reach outside your demographic and grab somebody of another gender or another race.”

Talib I. Karim, executive director of the nonprofit STEM4US!, agreed with Maddox.

“If you have a great idea and somebody believes the only people who have great ideas are white males, then how are we ever going to create an economy that outperforms those economies like China,” Karim questioned. “We have an advantage in our diversity.”

The good news for many minority entrepreneurs is that the growth of crowd funding provides some sort of financial backing when venture capitalists and other potential investors turn the other cheek.

Sites like KickStarter and Indiegogo have made it easy for emerging entrepreneurs to get the financial aid they need to launch a startup or continue the growth of their business.

With those tools in mind, Toya Powell believes it is vital that minority entrepreneurs support each other.

“Everyone in this room has the capacity to be an angel,” said Powell, the vice president of operations at the National Black Chamber of Commerce. “You could, in your own sphere of influence, invest in each other.”

 

 

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‘Cosmos’ Star Neil deGrasse Tyson Strips Sugarcoating Off Heavy Science Topics

Cosmos host Neil deGrasse Tyson recently captivated an audience of more than 4,000 people as he took on heavy topics in a way that only he can.

The esteemed astrophysicist spoke at the Nicoson Hall at the University of Indianapolis on Wednesday evening and used the time to not only educate the crowd, but to prove that science could indeed be more interesting than people might expect.

At one point, Tyson explained to the crowd why he doesn’t get excited about eclipses.

While the general public seems to make a big deal out of lunar and solar eclipses, Tyson explained that they are far more common than people think.

“Eclipses are not rare,” he told the crowd. “If you ever see a news article that says eclipses are rare, NO! Eclipses are more frequent than the Olympics.”

Eventually, the talk of eclipses led to a playful moment between Tyson and an audience member who excitedly exclaimed that there was a solar eclipse Thursday.

“Thank you for reminding the speaker, who is an astrophysicist,” he joked. “I assure you when stuff goes on with the sun, I’m all up in it.”

Tyson also revealed that he isn’t in support of trying to create a new civilization on Mars.

While some pioneers are hoping to get people on Mars by 2023, Tyson said he wouldn’t recommend the journey for anyone and he certainly won’t make it himself.

“I’m not signing up,” he said. “I will wait until there’s a budget to bring me back.”

That’s not to say he is a huge fan of earth, either.

Tyson joked that earth is certainly no “loving mother planet.”

“Earth basically wants to kill you,” he told the stunned crowd before explaining that 97 to 98 percent of all species that ever existed on earth are now extinct.

When compared to the universe, however, earth doesn’t look too bad.

“Not that we can find much solace in the universe,” Tyson continued. “The universe also wants to kill us, what with gamma ray bursts, supernova explosions, black holes and more.”

Despite how dangerous the universe may be, it isn’t clear if Tyson would rather take that journey through the scary universe if it meant he didn’t have to talk to politicians anymore.

While Tyson loves talking to the public about science, he made it clear that it’s a different story when he has to talk to Congress.

“The reason I don’t want to tell Congress about science is that 88 percent of Congress is up for election every two years,” he said. “I could go there and get them all hyped up about science, and I have to do that every two years. My task as an educator is not to change the mind of Congress. My task as an educator is to educate the public so they can elect the right people in the first place.”