Data Culture - Building responsible cultures and fostering ethical uses of data
We are a think tank that delivers solutions at the intersection of responsible business conduct, data-science, and big data.
Data Culture is founded by data-scientist and PhD in applied mathematics, Vedran Sekara, and specialist in CSR, discrimination, and representation, PhD in representation, Tess Skadegaard Thorsen.
We take on challenges ranging from discriminatory hiring practices, responsible investing, representation and diversity in marketing to auditing machine-learning algorithms, conducting ethical risk sweeps of data science pipelines, and compliance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Our team works across countries, and continents with collaborators ranging from small private businesses to large international organizations.
Vedran Sekara also offers services ranging from introductory talks to deep studies of machine behavior and bespoke consultancy solutions.
People
Vedran Sekara, PhD
Vedran (he/him) is a research and data scientist currently working in the intersection between network science, ethics and computer science. His interests lie in harnessing the power of complex networks, massive datasets, machine learning and data visualization to answer complex problems and reframe companies use of data. His work leverages data from the private, humanitarian and international sectors to understand social behavior and has been covered in The Ecomomist, Forbes, Scientific American and Die Zeit, and been featured on the covers of Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences.
Throughout his carer Vedran has worked on highly diverse datasets, from human behavioral data such as call detail records and email logs, to protein interactions in cells, wikipedia articles, collaboration networks, and taxi rides in NYC. In his previous role at SONY Mobile he built machine learning pipelines that would crunch billions of data-points. At UNICEF Innovation he led the work in using machine learning to estimate socio-economic indicators from novel big datasets.
His previous adventures have equipped him with the necessary diligence, understanding and skill set to collaborate and interact with both technical and non-technical stakeholders ranging from: MIT professors, branding teams, Google Brain scientists, government officials, to humanitarian aid workers and lawyers.
Tess Skadegaard Thorsen, PhD
(Currently unavailable for consultancy)
Tess (she/her) has researched and worked with discrimination, representation and responsible business conduct since 2012. She holds a PhD from the department of Politics and Society, Aaalborg University, as well as a BA and MA in Media Studies. Her research specializes in creative industries and representation across intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, religion, skincolour and age.
As a consultant she draws on the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human rights, the authoritative framework for socially responsible business conduct, as well as cutting edge research-frameworks such as the Design Justice Principles. Based on these broad-scale frameworks she builds and develops systems for responsible hiring practices, responsible supply-chain management, responsible reporting and communications.
A renowned scholar/activist, she combines research and practice and has worked with clients like film festivals, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), film companies, NGO’s, theatres, art institutions, and national and international organizations.
