Data Challenge 2016

The first edition of the MSU Data Challenge! This event was organized by the Data Infrastructure & Scholarly Communication group, a joint effort from the University Information Technology and the Library. In 2016 the topic of the data challenge was bike parking on campus, in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability. Participants were invited to crunch data on bike racks location and capacity; building location and occupancy; and sidewalk locations to suggest how to best redeploy (or expand on) the existing racks to best serve the campus biking community. All these datasets were provided to participants. The proposals were evaluated by stakeholders from around campus. The best proposals used a combination of data visualization and/or algorithmic approaches to suggest how to optimize bike parking with respect to walking distance to classrooms, aesthetic of the parking spaces, access to snowplows, and feasibility.