Data Action Using Data for a Public Good

Wednesday, November 19, 2025
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
1004 HN (hybrid)

Presented by:
Sarah Williams
Associate Professor of Technology & Urban Planning
MIT School of Architecture + Planning

Data action seeks to provide guidance for using data toward the benefit of society, learning from the ways we have used data unethically in the past and illustrating ways we can use it more ethically and creatively in the future. In this presentation, Williams will illustrate data action principles through her diverse research projects spanning topics of Central American migration, popular transit in Africa, ghost cities in China, and translating New York City’s zoning text. She will also show her most recent work on how to use generative AI for civic engagement.

About the Speaker. Sarah Williams is an associate professor of technology and urban planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she directs the Civic Data Design Lab and the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism. Trained in computation and design, she creates tools and visualizations that make complex urban issues visible to the public, a process she calls Data Action, also the title of her recent MIT Press book. Her projects — ranging from mapping informal transit systems to visualizing the cost of migration — aim to spark dialogue and drive policy change. Her work has been exhibited at the Guggenheim, MoMA, the Venice Biennale, and the Cooper Hewitt and presented to Congress. She has received numerous awards for innovation in design and civic engagement. Before MIT, she co-directed the Spatial Information Design Lab at Columbia University.

Event Details: This is a hybrid event: the in-person session will take place in room 1004 HN, the speaker will join via Zoom, and guests may also attend remotely via Zoom. Open to all students, faculty, and staff. RSVP not required.

Join remotely: https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/95058983980?pwd=0gVHqCfP9cAD6rOT8LW4Hf9InhMxnC.1