About the Team

Who are we?

Tova Perlman

Tova hails from Philadelphia, PA. She graduated in May 2021 with a degree in Urban Spatial Analytics from the University of Pennsylvania and is looking forward to pursuing a career in geospatial data science. The highlight of her summer was meeting new colleagues located internationally and learning how to use geemap API for python.

Utku Can Ozturk

Utku Can is from Izmir, Turkey and spent the last year getting a Masters in Data Science at LMU Munich. Next year he will be continuing at school starting his Masters thesis. The highlight of his summer was creating the data gathering pipeline and working with such incredible teammates and mentors.

Jonathan Cook

Jonathan is from a small village in Leicestershire, England. He graduated in May 2021 with First Class Honours in BSc Theoretical Physics from University College London (UCL). Starting from October 2021, he will be a DeepMind Scholar studying MSc Computational Statistics and Machine Learning, also at UCL. Jonathan has learned so much from the incredibly talented DSSGx UK cohort of fellows and mentors. He is also grateful for the opportunity to work on such a globally critical social issue.

Jacob Beck

Jacob recently graduated with a Master's degree in Sociology from the University of Mannheim, Germany. Starting in fall 2021 he will be a PhD candidate for the Department of Statistics at LMU Munich. He most enjoyed the collaboration of people from different academic backgrounds and getting insights to Machine Learning approaches.

Project Mentor:

Daniel Townsend

Daniel is a Canadian living in Berlin and working as a project management consultant. His practice focuses on helping organizations to realize strategic and visionary outcomes through policy, developing data systems and organizational change management. Daniel has over 15 years of experience in management consulting and policy development. He has a MSc from Imperial College London and is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. His highlight this summer was working with all the fellows.

Technical Mentor:

Robert Hager

Robert resides in Munich, Germany and is a mathematician who took a break from his current position as a Data Scientist, working in the insurance sector, to be a technical mentor for the ITU project this summer. He has enjoyed contributing his experience in developing and delivering data science products.

Who is ITU?

"The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the specialized United Nations agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), driving innovation in ICTs together with 193 Member States and a membership of nearly 900 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations. Established over 150 years ago in 1865, ITU is the intergovernmental body responsible for coordinating the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoting international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, improving communication infrastructure in the developing world, and establishing the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems. From broadband networks to cutting-edge wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, oceanographic and satellite-based earth monitoring as well as converging fixed-mobile phone, internet and broadcasting technologies, ITU is committed to connecting the world. For more information, visit www.itu.int.

Through ITU’s commitment to connecting the world, ITU brings to Giga a wealth of experience in ICT data and building safe and secure connectivity for all, and achieving a vision of an information society where technologies enable and accelerate social, economic, and environmentally sustainable development.

ITU is able to further contribute through its research, ICT statistics, as well as its advocacy work promoting effective, safe and trusted policy, legal and regulatory environments which foster the development of telecommunication and ICT networks, and build trust and confidence in the use of ICTs."

Who is UNICEF?

"UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

Through UNICEF’s Project Connect — a mapping and connectivity monitoring platform — UNICEF is able to provide a better understanding of where connectivity needs are in real time. So far, 800,000 schools in 15 countries have already been mapped, and counting: with more connectivity data, we can identify gaps in connectivity, aggregate demand, and collaborate on financing models necessary to connect disconnected schools to the internet."

What is Project Giga?

"Giga will bring the power of meaningful connectivity to fast track young people’s access to educational resources and opportunities. Giga will ensure every child is equipped with the digital public goods they need, and empowered to shape the future they want.

Giga also serves as a platform to create the infrastructure necessary to provide digital connectivity to an entire country, for every community, and for every citizen. It is about using schools to identify demand for connectivity, as well as using schools as an analogy for learning and connecting where the community can come together and support its next generation in a world where we are all increasingly digital, where the skills that are required are not formal ones, necessarily, and where learning happens continuously."

Excerpts above from the Project Giga website