How Vokal uses Python with Adam Bain and Chris Foresman

Civis Analytics uses Python to develop the machine learning software which powers our products, and we run our Python software in production. I'll give a (very) brief overview of what Civis Analytics does and where Python and the open source community fit into the picture.

We are going to talk about our history -- a high level why we switched from .net to python. Topics include .NET pain points and the reason why we chose Python. We looked at Ruby, and chose against Ruby. We will also talk about how we use Python, which include Bottle + MongoDB to build our APIs.

How ShiftGig, which connects the right people with the right job, uses Python.

We will describe how Modest, recently acquired by Braintree (PayPal) uses Python.

How Datascope Analytics uses Python to improve business and society through science and design.

How Deloitte uses Python within the Enterprise Science Team.

This presentation will cover the Django project I completed with my mentor, Adam Bain. The idea for this project came from my former work as a caregiver for a child with Autism. As a caregiver, there were many times behavioral issues came up and I often wondered what other possible interventions people may have tried. The child I worked with was nonverbal which made discipline and finding out the source of a behavior much trickier. Every case of Autism is different but there are still some behaviors which are more common, especially as a result of the inability to communicate. For example, self-injurious behaviors are common and usually associated with the frustration of not being able to communicate needs. My idea is to create an app where caregivers are able to share their solutions to behavior problems and search for other caregiver’s solutions as well. The app will have a space for people to share both problem behaviors they want to decrease in their client or child and positive behaviors they want to encourage. This project allows caregivers to search for problem behaviors as well as positive behaviors and find out how other caregivers addressed the behavior and whether those interventions were successful or not.

Project Goal: Create an interactive dashboard using Django, featuring data table and chart which take customized user filtering and sorting and return the filtered result. Progress: 1. Data normalization 2. Data Importer 3. url patterns 4. Django form - HTTP get/post request 5. Created chart view with C3.js 6. Bootstrap for error warning and numeric stepper 7. Manipulate data within shell

First, I’ll discuss a data-gathering pipeline that uses AWS Lambda functions written in Python to scrape CTA’s BusTracker prediction service and interpolate actual arrival times. Then I’ll detail an API written in Django REST Framework to select and analyze a range of data. Finally, a simple JavaScript-based front-end visualizes the data provided by the API.