Introducing Digital Scholarship 2: Data Analysis, Open-Source Tool Development, Platform Governance and Algorithmic Harms

Date: 2 October 2024

In the second installment of this two-event series, learn more about the interdisciplinary, multifaceted, and emergent approaches to digital scholarship from our 2024 Graduate Residency cohort.

Developing standardized methods for transportation analysis – Bruno dos Santos

Transportation poverty occurs when financial difficulties and transportation challenges make it difficult for people to participate in daily activities. In Canada, this problem is aggravated by a lack of standards to ensure the fair distribution of transportation infrastructure and limited guidance for planners to address equity in their projects. However, with data now more accessible than ever, there are opportunities to improve equity in transportation planning. My presentation highlights the standardized methods I developed for transportation analysis during my residency at the Sherman Centre. I will present the COMMUTECA21 R package, created in collaboration with McMaster University’s Centre for Research Data, which provides tools for conducting transportation analysis of accessibility in any region of Canada using national survey data.

Bruno dos Santos (He/Him) is a Ph.D. student in the School of Earth, Environment & Society at McMaster University. He holds a M.Sc. in Remote Sensing from the National Institute for Space Research (São Paulo, Brazil). His doctoral research focuses on understanding how transportation acts as a barrier for individuals in finding or maintaining employment.

Unlocking Toddler Activity Insights: Introducing an Easy-to-Use Machine Learning Tool for Everyone – Elyse Letts

This presentation will showcase the latest version of my new open-source tool to assess toddler physical activity. This python tool allows non-experts to use a machine learning model without needing to code. It produces a physical activity summary from a raw accelerometer data file. Physical activity is essential for children’s healthy growth and development. The Canadian 24-hour Movement Behaviour Guidelines suggests that toddlers get 180 minutes of daily physical activity. To understand if toddlers are meeting guidelines, we must first accurately measure their activity. In my thesis work, I have developed a machine learning model that measures toddler activity. I have expanded this into a tool that can be easily used by those who work with toddlers, for example clinicians, researchers, and public health agencies.

Elyse Letts (she/her) is a PhD student in Medical Sciences at McMaster University with the Child Health & Exercise Medicine Program. Her research focuses on improving physical activity and sedentary time measurement in toddlers as well as investigating the impact of physical activity on toddler health outcomes. Prior to joining McMaster, she completed an undergraduate degree (BSc) in Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo.

Understanding the role of civil society in multistakeholder global platform governance at UNESCO – Brad McNeil

In October 2023, UNESCO released its ‘Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms,’ a major step in global digital platform governance by an international intergovernmental body. The Guidelines were developed through multistakeholder consultations occurring from December 2022 to June 2023, involving the public and private sectors, civil society, media, academia, and the technical community. The consultation process engaged 134 nations and received over 10,000 comments, making it one of UNESCO’s largest open consultations to date. Although UNESCO offered select quantitative data to showcase the diversity of stakeholders involved and to summarize feedback received, these summaries provide an incomplete picture of the multistakeholder process. My project uses the anonymized consultation data to critically assess the multistakeholder quality of the consultations, particularly highlighting concerns from civil society in the Global South. This presentation will explore alternative data visualizations to better represent these voices, offering a critical perspective on the institutional narrative.

Brad McNeil (He/Him) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication Studies and Media Arts at McMaster University.  His research interests lie at the multiple intersections between freedom of expression, content moderation, and platform governance. His doctoral research focuses on global platform governance, with special attention to the ways that international organizations such as Intergovernmental institutions and non-governmental organizations are structuring a vision of global platform governance.

Understanding the Nature and Risks of Welfare Algorithmic Harms – Anabelle Ragsag

With the rise of the use of networked technologies and algorithms comes the intensification of surveillance. As welfare and social assistance systems adopting AI, algorithms, and automation, the poor are increasingly subjected to new modes and intensified ways and systems of surveillance and regulation. This presentation will share what the AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Incidents and Controversies Repository (the AIAAIC Repository) have identified as algorithmic incidents in the welfare system around the world, their nature, risks, and impacts. This presentation for the 2024 Sherman Centre Graduate Residency is a smaller part of my doctoral thesis that aims to understand how Asian solo mothers experience welfare surveillance and how do they identify and make use of their agency in this surveillance-heavy contexts.

Anabelle Ragsag is a PhD student at the School of Social Work who is interested in the politics and technologies of social assistance. Originally from Mindanao, southern Philippines, Anabelle is a community organizer based in Hamilton. Through her program development and evaluation work; teaching, speaking and writing; and parenting, she tackles systemic inequities by building the capacity of racialized women, to collaborate with other women, to challenge structures, and to create spaces within and outside those that exclude them.

Breaking the Silence: Understanding HPV Vaccination Gaps among Canadian Men – Naharin Sultana Anni

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is often associated with women due to its link to cervical cancer, overshadowing the significant risk it poses to men. In Canada, men are frequently overlooked by HPV vaccination programs, leaving them vulnerable to HPV-related cancers like oropharyngeal and laryngeal cancers, due to limited awareness, cultural stigmas, and absence of targeted vaccination efforts.

This project aims to address these gaps through a comprehensive online survey targeting men residing in Canada aged 16 and above, available in English and French. The survey explores knowledge, attitudes, and practices surrounding HPV and its vaccine. This presentation will highlight preliminary results from the first 100 participants, focusing on key trends in awareness, barriers to vaccination, and implications for public health strategies to create inclusive vaccination programs.

Naharin Sultana Anni is a Ph.D. candidate in Global Health at McMaster University, focusing on knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to HPV among men in Canada. Her research aims to provide insights that can shape effective public health strategies and promote inclusive HPV vaccination programs. She holds an MBBS from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Yonsei University, South Korea.

Details: This virtual workshop will be recorded and shared on the same page, and discoverable via the Sherman Centre’s Online Learning Catalogue.Date: