The Data Lab’s first two meetups of 2021 will cover COVID-19 recovery issues

Where do technologists find community these days? When we ask local folks, virtual meetups continues to be a common answer, 10 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re also a way to keep up to date on the latest in professional advancements in your field.

The Data Lab Meetup group, which is connected to a predictive analytics and insights company CompassRed Data Labs, scheduled its first two meetups for 2021, to be held virtually on Jan. 26 and Feb. 23:

• On Tuesday, Jan. 26, Beth Blauer from Johns Hopkins University will discuss the story behind its COVID-19 Dashboard, which has been tracking the spread of coronavirus since January. Blauer is the executive director and cofounder of the Centers for Civic Impact at JHU.
• On Tuesday, Feb. 23, Veronica Vanterpool, chief innovation officer at the Delaware Transit Corporation, will lead the discussion “The Effect of COVID-19 on Transportation Choices and Land Use Decisions.” (Technical.ly spoke to Vanterpool in September about Georgetown’s Accelerating Innovative Mobility pilot program.)

These are virtual events are free. Click the dates above to register.

In October, CompassRed received a $2 million New Castle County CARES Act grant to launch the Delaware Data Innovation Lab (DDIL), which uses data analytics innovations to help with the state’s COVID recovery, including the creation of jobs, stimulation of the economy and development of new technologies. It officially launched on Dec. 1 with six civic data projects.

CompassRed CEO Patrick Callahan, an honoree on Technical.ly’s 2020 RealLIST Connector, was recently named chair of the new Science and Tech Advisory group under the Delaware Prosperity Partnership, which includes 25 representatives from top Delaware tech companies, higher education institutions and the public sector.