Poet Maya Angelou once said, “if you don’t like something, change it…” and that’s exactly what data scientist Rebekah Jones did. Dissatisfied with the way the Department of Health in the state of Florida was reporting Covid-19 statistics - Jones created her own dashboard to accurately depict infection and death rates in her state.

As the world turns to data to solve some of the world’s most perplexing problems – data science has been thrust into the spotlight. Data is manipulated, shifted, and placed into different combinations that produce results, theories, and predictions. In the past, data has been challenged and criticized for the benefit of science to guarantee that the calculations and statistics are correct.  But as governments are heightened amid Covid-19 and governments are anxious to restart the economy – data scientists in the United States are under pressure to produce positive results that show declining infection rates – even if it’s not accurate.

There’s no rest for the wicked. Just ask the hundreds of hackers who are taking advantage of the vulnerability of people, companies, and entire industries during the Covid-19 pandemic. With phishing schemes and ploys to steal sensitive information on the rise – it’s more important than ever to be vigilant in securing your data.

Who would have thought a year ago that Google and Apple would join forces and work together to aid humanity? But if 2020 has taught us anything it’s that we are in a peculiar game of Jumanji where anything is possible – and that includes two tech giants working together to create an app that can track Covid-19 infections around the world. If used correctly – this app could help detect cases in the United States.