Working in the Tech Industry – Using Data Science for Social Insights

Four schools within UCD College of Social Sciences and Law (School of Economics, School of Politics and International Relations, School of Information & Communication Studies and the School of Sociology) jointly hosted an event entitled "Working in the Tech Industry – Using Data Science for Social Insights" on the 6th February in UCD Village Auditorium.  This industry event was aimed at current Masters students and final-year undergraduate students as these four schools all currently offer Graduate programmes that combine social science and data science. 

As the tech industry offers exciting opportunities for social scientists,  three industry leaders from Google were invited to talk about how Google uses insights from social sciences for innovation and to give advice on careers in the tech industry. The three speakers from Google worked in a variety of roles within the organisation and all had a background in social sciences or were UCD graduates:  Lucia Niño Kehoe (UX Research Lead at Google's Product Organization), David Quinn (Senior Technical Program Manager, Google Maps) and Artem Dubinich (Senior Data Analyst, Google Search Trust & Safety). They spoke about the importance of insights from the social sciences for innovation. The data that lies at the core of most products results directly from social interactions. Thus, to build innovative products that serve millions of people, knowledge about social processes is key. The speakers also shared advice about career paths in the tech industry and the skills that are required to thrive in the industry. Tech companies want to attract employees from diverse backgrounds. Most work is done in interdisciplinary teams, which means that teamwork and problem-solving skills are as important as technical skills.