Rutger Hofste, Data Science at World Resources Institute
Here at the Humanity Hub we’re passionate about innovation and championing the innovators in our community. We’re letting you go behind the scenes of the Hub so you can meet some of the amazing members we have in our community.
We are kicking off our blog series on the Humans of the Hub with Rutger Hofste from the World Resources Institute! He agreed to tell us what he’s been up to in some of his recent endeavours and what it’s like being part of the Humanity Hub community…
What’s your name?
Rutger Hofste
Who do you work for?
World Resources Institute. WRI is a global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being.
What do you do?
I work as a data scientist in the Water Team. We help companies, governments and international organisations understanding water risks including droughts, floods and help them set better targets. Water is often a local issue and works quite differently than CO2 emissions. Climate change will affect humankind predominantly through the water cycle.
What’s your current table football ranking?
Haha, this is a good one. Together with excellent teammates I won both tournaments so far [The Hub hosts table football tournaments with its members]. Probably more due to the teammates than myself. However, I will be abroad during the next event, so no competition from me! Grab your chance!
Rutger and his teammates from PWC2 at the Hackathon
Rutger was part of the Hackathon for Peace, Security and Justice event last month! Rutger’s team came in the first round of challenges and third overall in the competition. Here’s what he had to say about the day…
What was the event, and what was it like?
It was the Hackathon for Peace justice and Security. A hackathon is basically where people spend a significant amount of time coding. It was great, there were many interesting challenges and the challenges really matter to the world. The event also had a really good vibe! It was extremely well organized too.
My group participated in the Red Cross challenge. It was about trying to identify and classify damage using data sets, such a satellite imagery, to analyse the extent of damage caused by disasters in remote areas. We ended first in our challenge and third overall. We won €2500. More importantly, the data team at the Red Cross 510 will implement the approach. It was great that we were able to make such an impactful difference straight away.
“The data team at the Red Cross 510 will implement the approach. It was great that we were able to make such an impactful difference straight away.”
What are you hoping to/did you achieve from it?
It was great to use my skills to help people in need, I got to know other talented people in different fields, update my Machine Learning Skills and gain experience working with UAV (drone) data.
Back to everyday life, what’s it like being a member of the Humanity Hub?
The Humanity Hub has a great mix of people, I like being able to mingle with start-ups and existing organisations. The nexus of technical, social and entrepreneurial skills is something that is important to me and works extremely well if you ask me. It might sound cheesy, but the sum is more than its parts. I just wish there was a little tech corner with lots of monitors, so I could be a complete nerd!
If you want to read more about the Red Cross challenge and read Rutger’s teams post on the day click the links here
