Philly daily roundup: $35M for digital equity; PA invests in a STEM lab; How wearable devices affect our health

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Comcast commits $35M for digital equity

Comcast will donate $35 million to community organizations across the country to support technology, entrepreneurship and digital skills programming. This commitment is part of the telecom giant’s Project UP initiative. 

Also in this month’s Money Moves, Pennsylvania gave $200,000 to a STEAM Lab in Bucks County and the PA Biotechnology Center chose a Philly-based startup as the winner of its annual pitch competition.  

➡️ Keep reading to get all the latest Money Moves updates

Leveraging data to find solutions on the ground

So many big geospatial datasets, so little time — or really, so few professionals trained to leverage the wealth of information they contain. That’s why Temple University’s Geography, Environment and Urban Studies Department runs three professional science master’s degree programs that train more experts in the field.

Students in these GIS programs learn to harness the power of existing data to find novel approaches to urban and regional planning, public health, environmental assessments and other issues. If you’re into mapping and want to make an impact, this program could be for you.

“I feel like a lot of the social sciences are about defining problems,” a department professor told Technical.ly. “But with GIS, I feel like we’re kind of flipping that and figuring out solutions to the problems.”

➡️ Find out more about Temple’s GIS grad programs

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News Incubator: What else to know today

• Hankin Group is planning to open another life sciences building this fall at the Eagleview Development in Exton. [Philly Biz Journal]

• Wearable devices that track data about your health can be helpful, but also overwhelming, writes family medicine physician Amanda Swain. [The Inquirer]

• Phenom is hosting AI Day 2024 on Sept. 12. The event will cover the role AI plays in company growth as well as responsible adoption and use. [Business Wire]

• DiverseForce hosted Unusual Politics earlier this month, an event to help Black and brown professionals understand the impact of local and state government.[YouTube]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Code and Coffee’s weekly meetup is once again at the Capital One Cafe on Aug. 24. [Find out more]

• Visit Technical.ly at the Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl on Aug. 24 at American Grammar. [Details here]

• Philly Tech Entrepreneurs’s happy hour series is back on Aug. 27. [More info]

• Attend Klein News Innovation Camp just 10 days after the presidential election on Nov. 16 for a day of themes that will include: artificial intelligence, content creators and the outcome of the election. [Register]