Let's Talk Computing and Social Good with Dr. Ellen Zegura
Dr. Ellen W. Zegura, a Regents’ Professor at Georgia Tech and Bits of Good Team Advisor, recently received the Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award.
Dr. Ellen W. Zegura, a Regents’ Professor at Georgia Tech and Bits of Good Team Advisor, recently received the Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in teaching, research, and service and is the highest honor given to a Georgia Tech professor. She is the second woman to receive the award.
Her work in computing and social good includes working with the Carter Center's Mental Health Program in Liberia to provide the software and support that the Center and the Liberian government need to monitor the nation’s progress in building a sustainable mental health care system, and tribal communities in the southeastern parts of the United States and rural communities in Georgia to measure, map, and bridge digital divides that result from uneven access to the Internet.
Dr. Zegura's interest in computing and social good began in 2008 when she started teaching a project-based class called "Computing for Good."
“15 years ago, I became interested in computing and social good,” she said. “It was not my research area. And it was not my teaching area, but I became interested in it.”
For about eight years, students taking the class found nonprofit partners and worked with them to figure out what their needs were. They would then work on software development projects.
“The class had a few things that I became very dissatisfied with and so I stopped teaching it,” she said. “One of the weaknesses of the single semester class was students would work on the project for a semester, but they had no obligation to the projects once they finished the course. I think slowly, we realized that projects do [and should] carry over and that projects don't always finish after one semester.”
Involvement with Bits of Good
Dr. Zegura is also heavily involved with the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program. The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program unites undergraduate education with faculty research and innovation in a team-based context. The VIP team is closely linked to the Bits of Good student organization; in order to participate in the VIP, students have to apply to join the BoG student organization. The organization and VIP team give students who want to contribute to impactful causes the skills, structure, and mentorship to do so. Students who participate in the VIP get credit for the work that they’re doing, and nonprofit organizations get a technology upgrade with custom scalable web applications. The VIP model allows students to work on these projects for multiple semesters, and the project maintenance team, Dr. Zegura’s favorite team, is in charge of making sure the projects carry over.
“I have loved seeing the projects as they evolve over multiple semesters,” she said. “For example, Mapscout started as a product for a single nonprofit partner and is now [a general solution, completely free for non-profits, that makes it simple to build and customize interactive resource maps.] I also feel like I have a chance to get to know the students who have been in the VIP for multiple semesters, and that's quite special because so many of our classes in the College of Computing are so large that it's very difficult to get to know undergraduate students.”
In the past, Dr. Zegura also taught the Civic Data and Design VIP, helping students research and develop information, communication, and media systems to address regional civic issues. Students worked on researching and developing novel strategies for community engagement with technology, accessible systems for civic data collection, analysis, and display, tools for interactive information design, and new models of social innovation, privacy, and security in the context of civic data and applications.
Dr. Zegura's plans for the future involve continuing her work in computing and social good.
“What I've managed to do over the last five years is trying to do computing for good within the networking domain to bring together these two interests - looking at issues of the digital divide, and disparities in Internet access. Rural areas and tribal lands are most poorly served by internet connectivity and high-quality broadband. So I have a number of projects that have to do with measuring and mapping and improving Internet access to help bridge the digital divide.”
Dr. Zegura's work in computing and social good is an inspiration to others, and her commitment to solving societal issues through technology is commendable. Her contributions to the field of computer science will undoubtedly have a lasting impact, and the Bits of Good team is thankful for all that she does for us!