Official reports estimate that between 17 and 47% of all jobs will be automated in the near future- and on top of that, new sectors of the economy like Information Technology are taking the world by storm- what an uncertain world for our future workforce! While the destination of the global labor market is unclear, the journey is- data is the new oil. In addition to helping students fulfill their housing needs, Hours for Housing offers all hosts and students a free data storage device, and an orientation on how to make this new important resource work for them. Since roughly 90% of all jobs these days require ITC expertise, we provide this data education to all students on request, regardless of study program or prior expertise.
Students take a long time to find out what they want to do with their lives, especially in a labor market as rapidly changing as todays. However, we are working on an innovation that can make students feel a little more confident, and the world a little less chaotic- we call this project DATA. By having students who work on the project store data related to their contributions, experiences, and difficulties with different kinds of project-related work, they can make connections and learn more about their work style, and how they best fit in the workplace. In the future, they could even sell this data to companies interested in adding them to the team! This data is absolutely owned and controlled by the students, with no “back-door access” or secret copies owned by Hours for Housing. The data is free for them to use and manipulate if they wish, or for them to delete. In short, students learn about how data can be used to improve their lives, as well as its potential value to the outside world.
Project DATA stands for three things;
DA- Data Asset
T- Transistor
A- Array
We believe that the data that each and every human produces is severely undervalued, and underutilized. This is due not only to the extractive cartel-like behavior of the big data buyers like Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet (the parent company of Google) and Alibaba, but also due to the lack of awareness that ordinary people have over the important and valuable contributions to society that their data gives every day.
The Difference between Thyristors and Transistors in electronics:
In electronics, we see two types of circuits being commonly used: the Thyristor, and the Transistor. While the Transistor’s electrical flow can go back and forth, and with various amounts of intensity, the Thyristor only allows flow in one direction, and either goes on, or off. This is the way our data currently flows- completely to the tech cartels, or shut off, giving very little say to the people who make it all possible, namely, you. What makes our accommodations program truly unique is that we give students a unique set of skills that is increasingly vital in digitized economies, a skill that sets them apart from their peers in impressive, and empowering ways. Project DATA aspires to provide not just awareness of your worth as a person, it seeks to give you the reins of this worth, and set you free. Thus, the acronym DATA can be explained like this: the array is the students, the transistor is their newfound ability to control and manipulate the flow and size of information (unlike the thyristor), and the data asset is the inherent worth and potential of each and every student on the globe. Why settle for less, when you are capable of so much more?
