Imagine:
8 college students from 4 colleges around WA, with 4 mentors from Washington's tech sector and 4 more from Olympia spend 6-8 weeks using Washington-developed data visualization software to concoct cool and crunchable new looks at state open data for the reports of a handful of innovative state agencies.
- and it launched today, thanks to fast and fabulous support from the people involved.
What's the idea?
Washington state agencies and local software companies have partnered to create an innovative virtual Data Visualization Internship program for college students across the state. This summer internship program launches today, June 23rd and will culminate in a celebration organized by the Washington Technology Industry Association in September. To my knowledge, this is the first state internship to ever take place almost entirely online, using open data published by state agencies. This "virtual internship" is designed to have everything done remotely from wherever the interns and company staff work best. The virtual nature makes it easier for students who have work and family obligations to participate. Washington companies saw the need for a low impact way to get student interacting with government differently.
Alexandra Tester a recent Gonzaga University graduate, shares her perspective on the benefits and advantages of being involved in the program.
"I applied to this program because it offers an amazing learning opportunity in an area that I do not have much experience or knowledge in. I feel as though it will teach me skills that will be applicable and useful in my future work experiences. I currently work for Gonzaga University, so being able to intern from Spokane would not have been possible without the virtual aspect of the program and willingness of the mentors to remain involved through technology. I hope to gain a knowledge in an area that I have not been involved with previously and explore new opportunities."
But back to the day's actual events-
Tableau hosted the first of three stops on a tour of the data and software community. They will be working with a team of two interns from UW and the Employment Security Department to visualize Washington state employment data.
Microsoft, who are working with the Department of Early Learning and a team of students from Gonzaga and UW Tacoma, hosted the next stop - at their Westlake offices.
Livestories, a recent graduate of the TechStars program, is working with the Department of Revenue and a student from Pierce College to visualize data on tax preferences and participation.
Socrata is rounding out the day with an evening event at their space near Pioneer Square. They will be working with two Gonzaga students to visualize worker's compensation performance data from the Department of Labor and Industries.