Event – Datathon for Democracy: Data In Action — Massive Data Institute, Bright Initiative, and IBM
Join the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Massive Data Institute (MDI), Bright Data Initiative by Bright Data, and IBM, for an exclusive one-day Datathon for Democracy on March 29th. We will begin with foundational training and guide participants through applied investigation and analysis, working in teams to analyze real-time data from platforms such as X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit.
When: March 29 from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Where: McCourt School of Public Policy – 125 E St. NW, Room MCC 440
Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to participate.
For more information on MDI events, check out our events calendar . Any questions, please reach out to mdiresearch@georgetown.edu.
What you’ll do
During this all-day datathon, you will:
- Interact with Bright Data’s public web data infrastructure to access curated social media datasets across multiple platforms from the 2024/2025 US election cycles, as well as collect real-time social media data by running scrapers.
- Conduct deep data exploration using IBM’s watson AI Labs tools.
- Build a working AI agent using IBM watsonx Orchestrate, guided by hands-on mentorship from IBM watsonx AI Labs experts.
- Develop evidence-based policy recommendations that connect technical findings to actionable interventions for platforms, officials, and policymakers
Focus Areas
The Datathon is structured around three challenges:
- Deepfake Detection
- Toxicity and Harassment
- Counterspeech/ Prebunking Communications
Each of these are designed to highlight a distinct dimension of the information integrity landscape while revealing how these phenomena interact across platforms, languages, and electoral/political contexts.
Why Participate
- Move beyond theory to make data-driven changes in civil society.
- Connect with industry leaders to learn how open information is driving AI innovation and is critical to safeguarding public discourse.
- Gain pro-bono access to Bright Data technology – the same infrastructure used by 14 of the 20 world-leading LLM labs – to fuel your own non-profit, policy, or research work.
- Receive direct mentorship from IBM watsonx AI Labs experts to help you design and build AI agents.
Schedule
Saturday, March 29, 9:00am – 8:00pm
- 8:30-9:00am: Registration & Light Breakfast
- 9:00-9:10am: Welcome by Dr. Lisa Singh
- 9:10-9:40am (30 minutes): Bright Data Introduction & Platform Basics
- 9:45- 10:15am (30mins): IBM introduction & watsonx Orchestra Basics
- 10:15-10:30am: Team Formation & Task Assignment
- 10:30am: Datathon begins in main room
- 11:00: Task-based tutorials/trainings
- 11:00am -11:20am: Deepfake detection (Room #1)
- 11:10am -11:30am: Misinfo/Toxic speech (Room #2)
- 11:20 – 11:40am Room: Counterspeech/Prebunking (Room #1)
- 11:45am: Transition to main room
- 11:45am-4pm: Monitoring ongoing
- 1:00-2:00pm: Working lunch
- 4:00-4:45pm: Public Policy & Ethical Considerations
- 4:45pm-5:30pm: Team presentations and Q&A
- 5:30pm-6pm: Facilitated full group discussion
- 6:00-6:30pm: Closing remarks and certificates of completion
- 6:30pm-7:30pm: Networking reception
Eligibility
This datathon is designed for students who:
- Have interest in technology policy and AI governance.
- Are enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs at the main or Capitol campus.
- Have completed coursework on data management, data analysis, content analysis, data visualization, text as data, ethics, public policy, or other relevant coursework.
- Can commit to the full day of the Datathon (March 29, 2026)
Apply by Wednesday, March 18, at 4:00 p.m. EST.
Any questions? Please reach out to mdiresearch@georgetown.edu
About Bright Data: Bright Data is the world’s leading web data infrastructure company, trusted by over 20,000 organizations to ethically collect public web data at scale. Through The Bright Initiative, they empower academic institutions and civil society with the state-of-the-art tools needed to drive global “Data for Good” projects.
About IBM watsonx AI Labs: IBM watsonx AI Labs is a developer-first innovation hub by IBM, located at One Madison, New York City. It is designed to work side-by-side with startups, scale-ups, and the world’s largest enterprises to unlock real-world AI value in multiple ways. First, we supercharge AI builders and accelerate AI adoption at scale. Second, we connect IBM’s enterprise resources and expertise with AI developers. And lastly, we bring together IBM researchers and engineers in a collaborative hub for co-creating and advancing agentic AI solutions.
About the Massive Data Institute (MDI): At Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, the Massive Data Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute that connects experts across computer science, data science, public health, public policy, and social science to tackle societal scale issues and impact public policy in a way that improves people’s lives through responsible evidence-based research.
https://mdi.georgetown.edu/ To learn about additional upcoming MDI workshops and events, please visit: https://mdi.georgetown.edu/events/