Dakar – The Data for Development Challenge Senegal 2014 award organized by Orange under the patronage of the Senegalese Ministry of University and Research, had made available last year anonymous traffic data of the Sonatel cellular network (the most common provider in the African country) to more than 250 international research laboratories. The aim was to offer, thanks to the use of new methodologies and Big Data applications, a contribution to the development and welfare in various sectors: health, agriculture, transport / urban planning, energy, national statistics. The award in the category “Health” was won by the team led by Marino Gatto of the Politecnico di Milano. The team has also been assigned to one of three “development grants” funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to step up on the field the application of the results. The research team used data provided by Orange to develop large scale models and define the spreading pattern of schistosomiasis in Senegal. (9Colonne)
