{"684172":{"#nid":"684172","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Research Scientist Explores How Data Can Empower Communities","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs technology becomes increasingly intertwined with all aspects of society, more researchers are interested in how to use these tools to advance social equity.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of these researchers is \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.amandahmeng.com\/home\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAmanda Meng\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, senior research scientist in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scs.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Computer Science (SCS)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. The overarching theme in Meng\u2019s work is the relationship between power and data and how different social groups can make use of data to shift power.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the only social scientist in SCS, Meng sees her role as an \u201cimportant and potentially powerful interdisciplinary connection.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EConnecting Social Justice with Data\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough focused on political and social change, Meng\u2019s work has always had links to technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter completing her undergraduate education at Georgia Tech, Meng joined the Peace Corps, where she served in the Dominican Republic. She spent two years there working to improve computer literacy in schools and create community computer labs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeng said her time in the Peace Corps made her interested in how communities advocated for themselves. She explored this idea further while completing her Ph.D. from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/inta.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Sam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith her Ph.D. in hand, Meng was hired as a research scientist in SCS, working under Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ezegura.org\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEllen Zegura\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and School of Interactive Computing Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.carldisalvo.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECarl DiSalvo\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on civic data projects based in Atlanta.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis experience made her curious about the interaction between data literacy and civic literacy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe live in such a data-fied society that a lot of advocacy work often does involve data because to make your claims legitimate, policy makers want to see and understand the data,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFollowing a brief stint in the private sector as a data consultant, Meng returned to SCS, this time as a research scientist working on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ioda.inetintel.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIODA (Internet Outage Detection and Analysis)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E with Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/faculty.cc.gatech.edu\/~adainotti6\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlberto Dainotti\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. IODA is a research project and online platform that provides real-time measurements on global internet connectivity.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn her contribution to the IODA project, Meng aims to improve the usability of IODA, particularly by users affected by government-ordered shutdowns, by developing IODA users\u2019 internet measurement literacy. Currently, IODA provides the most granular, near-real-time data on Internet infrastructure connectivity. Meng uses this data to collaborate with global advocacy groups to publish reports detailing IODA\u2019s measurements alongside its sociopolitical context. Meng said the eventual goal of her work with IODA is for others to know how to use the platform to monitor for events and advocate against shutdowns.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe platform is really only as successful as its userbase is at understanding, making use, and acting on its data,\u201d Meng said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the past year, Meng was awarded her first grant as principal investigator. The grant uses Aggie, an open-source tool developed at Tech that aggregates content from the internet.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPreviously, Aggie has been used to monitor elections on social media. Meng said she wants to explore using it to monitor internet shutdowns or censorship events. She is currently conducting a pilot study to test the system, which will determine whether Aggie offers a more collaborative and coordinated way to monitor connectivity across measurement and social media data.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Role of a Research Scientist\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a research scientist, almost all of Meng\u2019s work is oriented toward research. This includes working on proposals and existing grants, as well as advising students.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe love to involve students in our research,\u201d she said. \u201cWe aren\u2019t just here to do research. We are here to involve students in research so they can learn and develop domain skills and research skills.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince 2024, Meng has served on the School Advisory Committee in SCS. She says it\u2019s important to have research faculty in service roles, as they have a different set of needs in their position.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThrough the funding we can apply for, the research we do, and the work we do with students, we are an important multiplier for the work that the School wants to cultivate,\u201d Meng said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommunity Driven\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven as a Ph.D. student, Meng said she wanted to contribute to local community groups. An important value she learned in the Peace Corps was to be an active participant in the community she lived in.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeng started getting involved in a housing justice project in Atlanta\u2019s Westside neighborhood that was collecting data related to their mission. They soon discovered that some residents\u2019 data was more accurate than official records because they lived there.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe also learned it\u2019s not all about impacting legislation,\u201d Meng said. \u201cIt\u2019s about mobilizing resources within the community, and the fact that data could be used to do that was an important finding, and it\u2019s something that I want to continue to draw out with data and AI.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeng has continued to work with the group from that project and wants to continue ethnographic research into how data and AI are used to create change.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAI could have the ability to consolidate power in the hands of those who develop closed-source models,\u0022 Meng said. \u0022It\u2019s important to study the entities that are developing AI as much as we study the communities that might make use of or be most minoritized by AI.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAmanda Meng, a senior research scientist in the School of Computer Science, explores how data and technology can shift power dynamics and promote social equity. Her interdisciplinary work bridges computer science and social justice, focusing on how communities can use data to advocate for themselves. Meng has contributed to projects like IODA, a platform that monitors global internet connectivity, and is now leading a pilot study using Aggie, a tool that tracks online content, to detect censorship events.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research Scientist Amanda Meng researches how data and technology are used in social advocacy. "}],"uid":"36532","created_gmt":"2025-08-26 16:44:15","changed_gmt":"2025-08-26 16:45:59","author":"Morgan Usry","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677809":{"id":"677809","type":"image","title":"Amanda-Meng_main.jpeg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch Scientist Amanda Meng\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1756226667","gmt_created":"2025-08-26 16:44:27","changed":"1756226667","gmt_changed":"2025-08-26 16:44:27","alt":"Woman standing on walking path","file":{"fid":"261749","name":"Amanda-Meng_main.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/26\/Amanda-Meng_main.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/26\/Amanda-Meng_main.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":117503,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/08\/26\/Amanda-Meng_main.jpeg?itok=lp-Hb4T2"}},"677810":{"id":"677810","type":"image","title":"Amanda-Meng_86A1314-Enhanced-NR.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAmanda Meng\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1756226722","gmt_created":"2025-08-26 16:45:22","changed":"1756226722","gmt_changed":"2025-08-26 16:45:22","alt":"woman standing in front of brick building","file":{"fid":"261750","name":"Amanda-Meng_86A1314-Enhanced-NR.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/26\/Amanda-Meng_86A1314-Enhanced-NR.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/26\/Amanda-Meng_86A1314-Enhanced-NR.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":77462,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/08\/26\/Amanda-Meng_86A1314-Enhanced-NR.jpg?itok=GB1FYNz4"}}},"media_ids":["677809","677810"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50875","name":"School of Computer Science"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"194701","name":"go-resarchnews"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"11883","name":"internet censorship"},{"id":"167595","name":"social justice"},{"id":"169129","name":"internet access"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMorgan Usry, School of Computer Science Communications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["morgan.usry@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}