TELUS and Northeastern
University host hackathon and identify potential solutions
for street congestion when Swifties descend on the city for six
sold out concerts
TORONTO, Nov. 13,
2024 /CNW/ - TELUS and Northeastern University hosted a two-day "Hackathon
for Good" starting November 6, for
more than 100 multidisciplinary graduate students at Northeastern's Toronto and Vancouver campuses, who volunteered to create
innovative solutions for predicting street traffic patterns and
potential road congestion during Taylor
Swift's Toronto concerts
from November 14-23, 2024. This
hybrid event aimed to leverage technology and data to improve
traffic management for the City of
Toronto during the six upcoming concerts in Toronto and teams identified potential options
for alleviating congestion during large scale events.
Participants were provided with supervised access to
de-identified and aggregated network mobility data through TELUS'
Data For Good program with support from industry experts.
Judges from TELUS, Northeastern and the
City of Toronto assessed the
students' recommendations and named Vancouver's Team 13 as the winners - which
just happens to be Taylor's favourite number!
Team 13's analysis of the data revealed that concert-goers tend
to arrive in Toronto through a
concentrated area but disperse widely across the Greater Toronto Area when departing, offering
City of Toronto staff a clearer
picture of travel patterns to help them improve traffic flow,
transit planning and congestion management.
"This collaboration demonstrates our commitment to using
technology for the betterment of our communities," said
Yvonne Leung, Assistant Teaching
Professor at Northeastern University in
Toronto. "By harnessing the power
of data and young minds, we aim to enhance the concert experience
for attendees and improve city traffic management during
large-scale events."
TELUS' Data for Good program is an award-winning, Privacy by
Design-driven insights platform that gives leading public-good
researchers access to high quality, de-identified data. Since 2017,
the program has enabled safe, responsible innovation toward finding
solutions for some of society's most pressing issues, without
compromising privacy. The program's privacy safeguards have been a
feature since its inception. In 2023, TELUS became the first
company in the world to achieve ISO 31700-1 Privacy by Design
certification for the Data for Good program, demonstrating TELUS'
commitment to safeguarding privacy and advancing the principles of
trustworthy data practices across Canada and beyond. Committed to leading by
example in data trust, privacy and security, TELUS was the first
telecom to sign a voluntary AI code of conduct introduced by the
Canadian federal government and has won several international
awards for its work, including the Responsible AI Institute's
Outstanding Organization prize.
"Congratulations to all of the participants for their work
conceptualizing real-world challenges and identifying solutions
with data in an innovative and privacy-preserving way," said
Pam Snively, Chief Data and Trust Officer, TELUS. "By
challenging themselves and working together, these students
demonstrated the kind of collaborative spirit that's so important
in today's world."
Winners received prizes including Motorola headphones and TELUS
swag, including tote bags featuring artwork by Indigenous artist
Tracey Metallic.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a world-leading communications
technology company, generating over $20
billion in annual revenue and connecting more than 19
million customers through our advanced suite of broadband services
for consumers, businesses and the public sector. We are committed
to leveraging our technology to enable remarkable human outcomes.
TELUS is passionate about putting our customers and communities
first, leading the way globally in client service excellence and
social capitalism. Our TELUS Health business is enhancing the lives
of 76 million people worldwide through innovative preventive
medicine and wellbeing technologies. Our TELUS Agriculture &
Consumer Goods business utilizes digital technologies and data
insights to optimize the connection between producers and
consumers. Guided by our enduring 'give where we live' philosophy,
TELUS and our 140,000 team members have contributed $1.7 billion and volunteered 2.2 million days of
service since 2000, earning us the distinction of the world's most
giving company. For more information, visit telus.com or
follow @TELUSNews on X and @Darren_Entwistle on Instagram.
About Northeastern
University
Founded in 1898, Northeastern
University is a global research university with an R1
Carnegie classification, and the recognized leader in experiential
lifelong learning. Northeastern's
global university system includes 13 campuses across the U.S.,
U.K., and Canada, and serves as a
platform for scaling ideas, talent, and solutions. Students study,
conduct research, and work on co-op in 149 countries and on all
continents. The university has 300,000-plus alumni and more than
3,500 industry partners worldwide.
For more information, please contact:
Emily Piccinin
TELUS Public Relations
emily.piccinin@telus.com
SOURCE TELUS Communications Inc.