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Using Data Science to Tackle Challenges in the Time of COVID-19

We invite you to join us for our monthly SQL MeetUp at 6:00PM on Wednesday, September 16th (9/16/2020) virtually via Zoom. When you're ready to join, just click: https://zoom.us/j/3037207595?pwd=dkNzejFvZmRKeVcyemMwTmxZeHlEZz09 to open the portal.

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Topic: Using Data Science to Tackle Challenges in the Time of COVID-19

Description: 2020 isn't a "do-over" year, it's a year to make a change for good.

In this presentation, we will address topics such as:

  • How you can use Data Science to make more informed decisions in the time of COVID-19
  • How RevGen applied Data Science to a real-world use case in the 2020 Hackathon for Social Good
  • How Databricks technology can accelerate time to analytics, improve the quality of insights, and facilitate better team collaboration

Speakers:
Stephen Idowu, Meghan Villard, Yuliya Quintela, and Brian Liberatore

Abstract:
2020 isn't a 'do-over' year, it's a year for change. And we set out to make that happen with data science!

What we did:
We built an interactive application that government officials could use to analyze the costs & benefits attached to closing the street to allow for more room for social-distance seating. The decision-makers can select a region or a specific street and analyze the associated costs (how does it impact traffic?) and benefits (how does it stimulate business owners and bring back more jobs?) in order to decide which streets to bring this block party concept.

How we built it:
We chose Databricks as our analysis tool to take advantage of our team's diverse skill set and mix Python, R and SQL. We also wanted to use delta tables and various graphing libraries like folium and plotly as well as native Databricks charting capabilities. The first steps included acquiring & cleansing datasets.

Challenges we ran into:
It was challenging to find a data set that was up to date with the Covid environment and any changes that have come along with it.

Accomplishments that we're proud of:
We knew this analysis had to move quickly to align with Denver's new 'safer at home' policies. We built our team with diverse skill sets to tackle this problem, and now have a usable POC that can be implemented in our community.

What we learned:
We learned that it's important to start with the business need and focus on building a tool that tells a good story and makes it easy to make decisions. We learned that this Cost Benefit Analysis may be biased toward higher priced locations in Denver due to their high margins.

Simply click on this Zoom link when you're ready to join the meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/3037207595?pwd=dkNzejFvZmRKeVcyemMwTmxZeHlEZz09

Also be sure visit SpringsSQL.org any time for more information about upcoming meetings and other events. You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

In these difficult times, if there's anything we can do, please reach out to Springs SQL Pass officers at springssql@pass.org.

Colorado Springs SQL Server User Group

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