Tag: Anthropology in Tech

Maker Anthropologist in the Tech Field: Interview with Astrid Countee (Interview #1 in the Interview Series)

For my first interview in the Interview Series, I interviewed Astrid Countee. She is a business anthropologist and technologist with a background in anthropology, software engineering, and data science. She currently works as a user researcher at the peer-to-peer distributed company Holo, as a research associate at The Plenary, as an arts and education nonprofit, and as a co-founder of Missing Link Studios which distributes the This Anthro Life podcast. 

If the audio does not play on your computer, you can download it here:

Astrid Interview AudioDownload

Over our conversation, we discussed the following:

  1. Astrid’s work as a technologist and anthropology
  2. Strategies for how to develop programming and data skills as an anthropologist
  3. Astrid’s experiences developing and using statistical and data science tools in her work
  4. The importance of maker anthropology

Our conversation touched on a variety of exciting topics, which I hope to follow-up on in more detail in the coming months. I hope you enjoy.

To learn more about Astrid and her work, see her LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/astridcountee

Here are the various items that she mentioned during the conversation:

Thanks, Astrid, for being willing to share your insights.

Next Interview in the Interview Series: https://ethno-data.com/schaun-interview-1/

Data Scientist, Anthropologist, and Entrepreneur: Interview with Schaun Wheeler (Interview #2 in the Interview Series)

For my second interview in the Interview Series, I interviewed Schaun Wheeler. Schaun is co-founder of Aampe, a startup that embeds an active learning system into mobile apps to turn push notifications into part of the app’s user interface. Before he co-founded Aampe, Schaun was the data science lead for the award-winning Consumer Graph intelligence product at Valassis, a U.S. ad-tech firm. And before that he founded and directed the data science team at Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City. Then before that, Schaun was one of the first people to champion the use of statistical inference to understand massive unstructured data at the United States Department of the Army. Schaun has a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Connecticut.

If the audio does not play on your computer, you can download it here:

Schaun-Interview-AudioDownload

Over our conversation, we discussed the following:

  • Schaun’s experiences as both a data scientist and anthropologist
  • His utilization of anthropology within data science to decipher the right problem before launching into data science solutions
  • Recommendations for how anthropologists can develop data science and programming skills
  • His experiences starting a new data science consumer and market-research based company

To learn more about Schaun Wheeler and Aampe, check these out:

LinkedIn (the best way to contact him): https://www.linkedin.com/in/schaunwheeler/

Medium: https://medium.com/@schaun.wheeler

Twitter: https://twitter.com/schaunw

Aampe website: https://www.aampe.com/

Aampe blog: https://www.aampe.com/blog

A User Story, The Data Science Children’s Book: https://www.aampe.com/blog/a-user-story

More Detailed Walkthrough: Clip #1: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL03WDMCL2PHjRd8Y8USzvVkcIyQM57FMU and Clip #2: https://youtu.be/kwk_Ot8orPY

Previous Interview in the Interview Series: https://ethno-data.com/astrid-interview-1/

Anthropologist in Fintech: Interview with Priyanka Dass Saharia (Interview #3 in the Interview Series)

For my third interview in the Interview Series, I interviewed Priyanka Dass Saharia. Priyanka Dass Saharia is an anthropologist working in tech startups, mostly seed to early venture stage in their product development. These companies broadly fall under the rubric of tech-based initiatives that aim to accelerate positive social, environmental and governance change. To do this, she routinely employs a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. In addition to anthropology, she has also studied economics and sociology in both India, where she grew up, and the United Kingdom, where she currently resides.

Over our conversation, we discussed the following:

  • Priyanka’s experiences as an anthropologist in tech, including her current work in fintech
  • Strategies for socially and environmentally equitable entrepreneurial investment
  • Skills anthropologists might need when working in tech and suggestions for how to develop them
  • Recommendations for how anthropologists can cultivate their quantitative thinking

To learn more about Priyanka Dass Saharia, check these out:

Anti-Corruption Anthropologist in Kazakhstan: Interview with Olga Shiyan (Interview #7 in the Interview Series)

I interviewed Olga Shiyan as part of my Interview Series. In it, she discusses her anti-corruption work in Kazakhstan with Transparency International. In particular, she highlights various projects that have integrated anthropology with data science and statistics. 

Olga Shiyan is the Executive Director of the Transparency International’s chapter in Kazakhstan. She specializes in advocacy, legislation and draft laws, and democratic training programs. For this, she has developed research methods that combine anthropology and data science and statistics. In 2019, the Kazakhstan Geographic Society awarder for a medal for anti-corruption work.

To learn more about Olga, feel free to check out the following:

1. Monitoring the state of corruption in Kazakhstan for 2020, presentation

2. Presentation of the research in the media, speaking on a TV show, talk TV show

3. Monitoring the state of corruption in Kazakhstan for 2019

4. The index of civic participation and influence on lawmaking in Kazakhstan

5. 13 stories about lawmaking in Kazakhstan                                             

6. Development of local self-government in Kazakhstan: analysis of fourth-level budgets

7. Ethno-confessional monitoring. Kazakhstan. 2018.

8. Customs corruption in Kazakhstan: mirror analysis of trade

9. Opportunities for Civil Control in Kazakhstan: Experience of Ethnological Research

10. The thorny path of labor migrants to Russia: the experience of participant observation

11. Anthropological approach to the study of the influence of gift exchange on informal socio-economic relations

12. Anthropological approach in the interdisciplinary study of the phenomenon of corruption

13. Summer anti-corruption school of Transparency Kazakhstan

14. Transparency Kazakhstan School of Investigative Journalism