Palantir

Humanizing data: How to achieve data-driven outcomes in the real world

Speaker

Zach Romanow

Abstract

While big data, machine learning, and data science are frequently cited as solutions to many problems, technical teams and capabilities are often siloed away from decision-makers and subject matter experts. We'll discuss the challenges that are present when deploying data platforms at many of the world's most impactful institutions across the private, public, and nonprofit sector. We'll also show how Palantir enabled a major NGO to transform their aid delivery in Syria by integrating disparate, messy data into a central platform, and empowering both technical and non-technical users to make data-driven decisions.

Speaker Bio

Zach Romanow joined Palantir Technologies in 2012 as the first hire on its Philanthropy Engineering team, and now leads Palantir’s humanitarian partnerships. He has managed a number of Palantir’s deployments on disaster relief, aid delivery, and food security and agriculture. He previously worked at the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC) at Princeton University, empowering policymakers to make data-driven decisions around development and security issues. Zach received his undergraduate degree from Princeton with a B.A. in Public & International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School.