Companies such as Adevinta, Sabadell Bank or Schneider Electric have sent their teams to solve a data challenge on climate change

On Tuesday, February 8th, Aula Magna held the first edition of the Women in Data Science (WiDS) Datathon, which, promoted by Stanford University, aims to bring data science closer to all audiences in an entertaining and engaging way.

More than 50 people have gathered since early in the morning to solve a challenge regarding building pollution.

Participants from teams such as Adevinta, Sabadell Bank, Zurich and Schneider Electric, (who was a sponsor of the conference), have dedicated the morning to analyzing the differences in the energy efficiency of buildings and building models to predict energy consumption.

Clara Lapiedra, founder and CEO of Aula Magna Business School and WiDS ambassador in Barcelona and Madrid, kicked off the Datathon with a speech in which she highlighted the importance of data as “the oil of the 21st century” and emphasized the gender differences that also occur in this field throughout history. She has highlighted the COVID vaccine as an example, for which the potential consequences the vaccine had on women’s menstruation were not analyzed.

“The representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with the absolute truth”, stated Lapiedra quoting Simone de Beauvoir.

The CEO of Aula Magna took advantage of her speech to announce that the Data Analytics for Managers program will start next March, a new training program geared towards making data more accessible to those who have to interpret and use it in companies.

In the opening word, Carolina Latorre also intervened as a representative of Schneider Electric, which has won the award for the most sustainable company in the world. Schneider gave practical examples highlighting the importance of data and how this is a topic that is increasingly relevant for employers.

The last to speak was Noelia Seoane, representative of Nuwe, the technological platform that has collaborated with Aula Magna to launch this Datathon. Seoane provided the teams with the instructions for the challenge and to encourage taking the first steps in the world of Data Science.

The life cycle of buildings, from construction to demolition, was responsible for 37% of global energy-related CO2 emissions in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency.

An accurate prediction of energy consumption can help policy makers target efforts to maximize emission reductions, which is why Stanford has chosen this challenge for this year’s edition.

During the development of the event, the questions that the members of the teams asked the facilitators were mixed with internal discussions about the best way to solve the challenge. What’s more, one of the teams managed to finish the challenge before the networking meal began. The meal was an opportunity for all the participants to exchange opinions about their experience in what, for many, was their first approach to the world of data.

Tomorrow Madrid will host the second Datathon. The La Nave venue will house members from additional companies who will have to solve this same challenge which, given the success of its first edition, is very likely to continue to be held in subsequent years.