PALO ALTO, Calif., September 10, 2024 – Denodo, a leader in data management, announced that the Denodo Academic Program, which prepares students to become future leaders in data and analytics, has opened registration for the next University Challenge, Data for Social Change: Improve Life Expectancy, with registration closing on October 27th.
The Denodo Academic Program prepares students through virtual, self-paced training modules, live workshops, and test drives of the Denodo Platform. The Denodo Academic Program launched its first University Challenge in 2023, dedicated to improving the air quality in Europe.
“Participating in the Denodo University Challenge was the best decision ever,” said Manuel Rodriguez, when he was a student at Boston University. “Not only because I won, but also because I got to learn about the climate situation of Europe. We hear a lot on news sites and from politicians, about how climate change is going, so it was really interesting to dive deep into the actual numbers. It was a short week to prepare everything, but it was very rewarding.” Currently, Manuel is employed as a product developer at Denodo.
“The University Challenge last year was a blast,” said María Vidal, a student at the University of A Coruña, Spain. “We didn’t win, but we came close, and it was a fun experience that taught me a lot about working under pressure and with my team. We were really happy to be part of the finalists for the first challenge. We worked hard, and it was great to get recognized for it.”
"Thank you, Denodo, for your treatment throughout this challenge,” said Luis Mayán, a student at the University of A Coruña, Spain. “All of the assistance you gave us was very helpful, and the visit to the Denodo office was an enriching experience.”
Because Denodo puts a strong priority on environment, social, and governance (ESG) issues, the first challenge focused on the environmental aspects of ESG, whereas the current challenge focuses on the social aspects, calling for university students to try their hands at leveraging data, using both provided data sets and data sets that they will have to find, to improve life expectancy.
This Challenge encompasses the typical phases in a data project: Integrate, Manage, and Deliver. In the Integrate phase, participants will use Denodo Express, the free version of the Denodo Platform, to connect the datasets and start to create virtual views of the connected data. In the Manage phase, participants will then start to build data governance rules around these views, and in the Deliver phase, participants will leverage the data to solve the challenge, delivering the data in the optimal format and method, and justifying their decisions. Participants will be judged by their ability to integrate, manage, and deliver the data in the most efficient manner to serve the goal of improving life expectancy.
“I am continually impressed by the level of ingenuity and technical prowess displayed by University Challenge participants, particularly the winners,” said Alberto Pan, chief technology officer at Denodo. “In this next challenge, I’ll be very curious to see how participants will leverage data to make impactful statements on the issue of longevity.”
Members of the winning team will receive access to unlimited on-demand Denodo training courses and certification exams for six months, worth up to $7,000, an exclusive Denodo Winner Badge, communicating proficiency to potential employers, and an invitation to assist at a local Denodo DataFest event.