Problem Statement
Amid increasing disparities in the complex socioeconomic conditions faced by youth, the integration of advanced technologies—such as Open Data analysis and generative AI—offers a unique opportunity to uncover root causes and potential solutions. This approach can help adolescents overcome challenges and achieve success.
An ability to create data-driven insights opens avenues for unprecedented understanding of addressing factors that contribute to inequalities amongst youth. By processing vast amounts of data concerning youth, including rates of education, access to clean water, economic opportunities, and social inclusivity, generative AI can generate predictive models and simulations. These models can simulate various scenarios, aiding statisticians, policy-makers, and economists in making informed decisions to reduce inequalities amongst youth.
We challenge students to study and apply data analysis and AI to examine youth inequalities, paving the way for smarter, more effective strategies to diagnose and heal these inequalities and share it in their classrooms, with peers, and their communities.
The Challenge
The Big Data and AI Challenge (BDC) for high school students is an inquiry-based, interdisciplinary, experiential learning program that strengthens students’ problem-solving and computational thinking abilities by working with open data. By allowing students to undertake independent research projects that tackle real-world problems, the BDC bridges classroom learning and extracurricular activities, cultivating active digital citizenship and inspiring innovative solutions for sustainable development.
All students will be enrolled in an integrated, self-paced Introduction to Data Science course, hosted by CISCO Academy. This course is mandatory for all registered students. Students who successfully complete this course will receive a CISCO certification badge at the end of the BDC.
Teams of up to five students will be provided with datasets, workshops, learning resources, and tools for data analysis. With the help of experts from academia and industry, teams undertake exploratory analysis of socioeconomic and educational open data. Data analysis is integrated with scientific writing, as teams present their research findings in the form of scientific manuscripts, which are then evaluated by academics and industry professionals. All aspects of the BDC, including workshops, resources, and mentorship, will be delivered online, ensuring equal access for all students, regardless of socioeconomic or geographical circumstances.
At the end of the program, academics and industry experts will review all submissions, providing professional feedback and selecting finalist teams for the Big Data Day events. During the Big Data Day, finalist teams will present their findings to a panel of expert judges while competing for monetary prizes. The abstracts of all teams’ research papers and the manuscripts of the winning teams will be published in the open-access, peer-reviewed STEM Fellowship Journal.
Through this program participants will:
- Collect and Investigate Open Data on youth inequality, locally, regionally, and globally.
- Analyze sources, factors, and the impacts of youth inequality. This could concern inequalities in but not limited to health, education, economic opportunity, society and culture, environmental conditions, and technology.
- Hypothesize and Formulate innovative solutions to remedy youth inequality.
- Present Findings in the form of a scientific report.
Why participate?
- Develop analytical and computational thinking by using the latest AI and data analysis tools in the context of current, real-world challenges of youth inequality.
- Learn the fundamentals of data sciences through an integrated self-paced course facilitated by CISCO Academy through the High School Big Data Challenge.
- Apply data visualizations to present student-found results from Big Data and AI analytics.
- Engage in an interdisciplinary, problem space led by student-driven inquiry.
- Practice scientific writing and publish your ideas in the peer-reviewed STEM Fellowship Journal, through the largest national scientific publishing group.
- Network with academics, industry professionals, and other forward-thinking students.
Research topics can include any fields of youth inequality, such as, but not limited to:
- Educational Inequality: Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Access to Quality Education Among Youth
- Economic Inequality: Economic Impact of Youth Entrepreneurship Programs in Low-Income Communities
- Health Inequality: Impact of Health Inequality on Lifelong Outcomes for Adolescents
- Gender Inequality: Impact of Gender-Based Violence on Educational Attainment
- Racial and Ethnic Inequality: Effects of Racial Discrimination on Educational and Career Outcomes for Minority Youth
- Environmental Inequality: Impact of Climate Change on Youth Displacement and Education in Vulnerable Regions
- Political and Legal Inequality: Impact of Voting Age Restrictions on Youth Representation in Politics
- Technological Inequality: Impact of Automation and Technological Change on Job Prospects for Young Workers
- Urban vs. Rural Inequality: The Impact of Urbanization on Rural Youth Migration and Employment
- Cultural and Social Inequality: Impact of Family Structure on Youth Social Mobility
Eligibility
Students from any high school or CEGEP program, who are willing to apply computational thinking to address real-world problems.
Program Flow
Frequently Asked Questions
Students, parents, or teachers can register students as a team of up to five ($100 registration fee).
You do not need any previous experience with programming. We welcome all students who are eager to put effort into learning and expanding their skillsets, as well as those who show any level of interest in data science or the challenge topic. Additionally, we will provide you with access to resources and webinars to learn everything you need to succeed!
We encourage participants to start forming teams before the event. You may attempt to form a team of students at the same high school. It is also recommended to make interdisciplinary teams given the nature of our data challenge topics. You may also register on your own and be placed into a team after registration.
Think about what interests you the most in the field of the provided topic. Read the internet and research articles. In challenges like this one, many teams come up with their topics in the first few days of the challenge, rather than beforehand.
No, students from any country can sign up. The HSBDC is not limited to Canadians.
Yes, students do not necessarily have to represent the high school at which they are studying.
Pricing
The registration fee for the High-School Big Data Challenge is $100 per team.
Students are encouraged to form teams of four or five to help lower individual costs. In its commitment to fostering an equitable environment, STEM Fellowship offers participating teams the opportunity to apply for a fee waiver.
Equity and Equality
STEM Fellowship has a proven record of organizing STEM career-connected learning opportunities and forging professional connections for underprivileged youth. This specific initiative is particularly valuable for its focus on developing data analysis and AI skills, which are crucial for success in the digital age and future STEM careers. We are seeking CanCode 4 funding to eliminate the participation fee for all students.
Contact
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us
General Inquiries
bigdata@stemfellowship.org
Related Projects
Support the
Big Data Challenge
As a federal charity, we rely on the generous support of our sponsors to sustain the work we do for Canadian youth. Funds that are donated to STEM Fellowship are appreciated and will be used to support STEM programs, which provide students across the country with unique, inquiry-based, experiential learning opportunities.
