Shout out from volunteer team!

Volunteers are the spine of any event, making sure all the preparations go smoothly, being there to run the actual event and making sure all the mess is cleaned up afterwards. Being first event in human centric data in Helsinki of such scale, we are looking for all the great supporters and volunteers to make it the best event yet. Volunteers’ excitement is very palpable and it energizes us even more.

As a volunteer, you will be a vital part of the conference and will help create a welcoming and outstanding conference experience for over 300 participants from around the world. This is a valuable opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in the field of human centric data, attend an international conference, and obtain first hand experience in the organization of a high-level international dialogue in advancing human centric personal data.

In addition to having local supporters, we are also happy to have volunteers from abroad fly off to Helsinki to purely help to make it great event. Here is the shout out from Michele Invernizzi, Communications Design maverick from Italy.

What interests you in MyData topic?

There are a few topics that interest me quite a lot right now, especially in terms of the collection and analysis of people’s data: the need for a more evenly balanced control over our own data; the importance of having an active conversation with policymakers for better and up-to-date regulations that could both ensure our human digital rights as well as create a rich and fertile environment for companies to advance and improve our world; last but not least, the need to design tools, initiatives, practices, etc… so that we can inform people, making them know and care about those issues, because that’s the only way we can start conversations and promote change.

Could you describe what place big data holds in your field of Communications Design?

As a communication and information designer, I’m very interested in designing visual models that work well when it comes to represent big data sets, making them accessible and easy to understand for users. There is also an ethical perspective: I believe that as professionals we have to give something back to society, to make it better with our knowledge in some way. Designing something to create awareness and foster debate about the issue of personal data is a good place to start in my opinion.

What are some examples of your daily routine that involves data?

I specialize in information design and data visualization, so I get to work with data a lot in my daily life. I also just started to work on my M.Sc. thesis and my focus is exactly on privacy, data transparency and data policy, so I’m very excited to come to Helsinki and get to know so many interesting people!