BetaCity: Election Data - Forecasting, Polling, & the Impact of AI (IN-PERSON)

With elections around the corner, want to know how they can be predicted, how (accurate) polling works, and how AI has and can impact elections, particularly around misinformation?

*This is the in-person registration for this event. To attend virtually, please RSVP here.*

In this special non-partisan election data edition of our civic tech meetup, we will be joined by a panel of experts to discuss these topics, along with a brief look into some recent election data trends based on ideas from the New York Times Bestseller book "Everybody Lies".

(There will be dinner for the in-person event, sponsored by Darkhorse Analytics! Also, thanks to Amii for sponsoring the beautiful space this event is hosted at!)

Panelists

Dr. Jared Wesley, Professor of Political Science
Jared Wesley is a professor of political science and member of the Black Faculty Collective at the University of Alberta. Jared specializes in the comparative analysis of provincial politics, with a particular focus on political culture and public opinion. He leads the Common Ground initiative -- a long-term research project aimed at examining the gap between who Western Canadians are and who they see themselves to be. His team uses Viewpoint Alberta surveys to analyze public opinion, and focus groups to compare those individual attitudes to the norms and values that underpin politics in the region. Jared has co-authored two practical accounts of Canadian politics: Inside Canadian Politics (published by Oxford University Press) and The Public Servant’s Guide to Government in Canada (University of Toronto Press). These top-selling books blend practitioner and academic perspectives, offering students and the general public an accessible view of Canadian democracy and government.

Janet Brown, Principal at Janet Brown Opinion Research
Janet Brown has been examining and tracking public opinion in Alberta for more than 30 years. Together with Trend Research, Janet Brown conducted the only poll during the 2019 Alberta provincial election with results that were within the margin of error for all political parties (at both the provincial and regional level). In partnership with journalist Paul McLoughlin, Janet publishes Wild Ride – a quarterly report that weaves political insight with proprietary polling and provides clients with a no-agenda assessment of Alberta’s rapidly evolving provincial scene.

She also led a large-scale public opinion research project for CBC Calgary in 2018, 2020 and 2022, as part of their “Road Ahead“ series. This research went beyond the “horse race” numbers to identify the underlying dynamics that are driving public opinion in Alberta. Janet is often invited to speak about political and social trends. She is a regular commentator on the CBC Calgary News at Six, Alberta Primetime on CTV2 in Alberta, and The Weekend Morning News on Global News Calgary.

Dr. Duane Bratt, Professor in the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies
Duane Bratt is a political science Professor in the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies at Mount Royal University (Calgary, Alberta). He teaches in the area of international relations and Canadian public policy. His research interests include Canadian nuclear policy, Canadian foreign policy, and Alberta politics. Recent publications include: co-editor of Blue Storm: The Rise and Fall of Jason Kenney (University of Calgary Press, 2023), co-editor, Orange Chinook: Politics in the New Alberta (University of Calgary Press, 2019), co-editor, Readings in Canadian Foreign Policy: Classic Debates and New Ideas 3rd edition (Oxford University Press, 2015) and author of Canada, the Provinces, and the Global Nuclear Revival (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012). Current projects include a book on the politics of covid in
Alberta. Duane is also a regular commentator on political events.

Sahir, Associate Machine Learning Scientist at Amii
At the Advanced Tech team at Amii, Sahir collaborates with scientists, researchers, and industry partners to come up with solutions to their burning AI questions, bridging the gap between AI research and the industry. Sahir's thesis at the University of Alberta focused on inter-agent teaching in the deep reinforcement learning setting. Prior to the U of A, he worked as a Data Scientist for IBM and Unilever.

The panel will be moderated by Eugene Chen, who has worked on data with political campaigns, created tools that visualize demographic data, and co-created http://polivolume.com/ with Jared.

About BetaCityYEG (http://www.betacity.ca).

We are the city and region's citizen-led digital engagement group with a mandate to connect citizens with opportunities to learn about, provide feedback for, and participate in projects that improve our community with technology.