Adelaide University Internship Experience - Anju Odedara
Welcome Anju!
Anju Odedara joined our SAcommunity Data Analytics Team for her University of Adelaide SET (Sciences, Engineering and Technology) Internship for her Master of Data Science Trimester 1, 2024: 23 January 2024 - 22 April 2023.
She is completing a 280 hour internship onsite with SAcommunity at the Connecting Up Office, Infoxchange for 3 days (22.5 hours) a week for ~14 weeks around her classes.
Total Hours 280 Joined 23 January 2024 Last Check-in 10 May 2024
Personal Biography
Anju is a second-year student of Master of Data Science at the University of Adelaide. Previously she completed a Master of Science majoring in Statistics at Saurashtra University in Gujarat, before working as a Research Assistant at the District Statistical Office Porbandar in India for 12 months.
It was here she developed her interest in data analysis, while working across government demographic and economic projects providing information on the district population including village dynamics, census, and retail price surveys. She conducted statistical and quantitative analysis for annual department publications ''Statistical Abstract of District'' and "Socio economic survey of District" while providing administrative support to management.
Currently Anju is undertaking her internship at SA Community in the Data Analytics Team. Where her aim is to learn various methods of data analysis using Power BI, and to gain further knowledge about the analysis of real-world data for community services and how this data can be useful to the community.
In the future she plans to become a data analyst by solving the problems related to data for the greater good. She aims to utilise the huge amounts of big data that are generated every day, more effectively and efficiently, finding new insights to create solutions for people.
Community Services in Councils Project
Anju has selected Port Lincoln for her Power BI council reports, a database of approximately 157 community services operating in the area for the financial years 2022-2023. Her reports will follow previous visualisation report work by Stathis Avramis and Renu Bala, and when completed will be found >>here. There are a number of steps involved as part of creating community service information data report presentations, a summary of data trends prepared, work is attributed and published to the website, and then will be introduced to council stakeholders by phone and email to be used as a tool to understand community needs in their area.
About calling port Lincoln council: calling port Lincoln council is as important as making a report for the council. After mailing my report to the council, I also called the council to follow-up on my email. My power BI report for port Lincoln is useful for them to understand and assess local community needs as report shows which primary category was most visited during those Finacial years. Also, reports can be helpful to provide more accurate services to the population effectively and assist in decision-making on community resources and assets.
About calling port Lincoln council: calling port Lincoln council is as important as making a report for the council. After mailing my report to the council, I also called the council to follow-up on my email. My power BI report for port Lincoln is useful for them to understand and assess local community needs as report shows which primary category was most visited during those Finacial years. Also, reports can be helpful to provide more accurate services to the population effectively and assist in decision-making on community resources and assets.
Image: Connecting Up Monthly Staff Meeting, Meeting our new COO, Jo Davies Work experience - Internal/External Connections & Networks - Meetings, Training & Events
Volunteers and interns are encouraged to attend monthly SAcommunity and Connecting Up Team meetings, as well as quarterly all-staff Infoxchange Town Hall meetings to understand more about the organisation as a whole. In addition to being provided with an opportunity to read about projects and news through the staff-wide communication channels: Viva Engage and the weekly CEO Update from David Spriggs. Finally we also support volunteers and interns to participate in Infoxchange-wide 'Lunch and Learn' educational sessions, telephone techniques, and network meetings to connect with staff and volunteers.
Anju has accessed the following staff and volunteer activities:
Monthly Connecting Up staff meeting
Volunteers and interns are encouraged to attend monthly SAcommunity and Connecting Up Team meetings. Meeting all staff together at the office to hear monthly work reports, with interns and volunteers also getting a chance to speak about their ongoing work and become inspired.
13 February 2024
Meeting our new COO, Jo Davies was quite inciteful for me. She is a friendly and cheerful person. Hearing her interesting career story was motivational. In particular, what I learned is today that no matter how big a position you have in your organization, it is important that you connect with your people even if you don't work with them daily.
Meeting our new COO, Jo Davies was quite inciteful for me. She is a friendly and cheerful person. Hearing her interesting career story was motivational. In particular, what I learned is today that no matter how big a position you have in your organization, it is important that you connect with your people even if you don't work with them daily.
12 March 2024
The monthly meeting for the Connecting Up Team serves as a platform to share updates, highlights, plans, and activities. It provides a regular opportunity for team members to stay informed about ongoing initiatives, progress, and upcoming events. These meetings aim to keep everyone aligned with organizational goals and foster collaboration and teamwork within the team. As a participant in the meeting, I gained insight into the agenda, activities, and roles of every team member. It provided a comprehensive understanding of the organization's operations and facilitated better collaboration and alignment among team members.
Infoxchange All Staff Town Hall Meeting 27 February 2024
During this meeting, we received updates from various departments at Infoxchange, including the CEO, Operations, Finance, and People & Culture. Additionally, Lightning Talks were presented by different teams within Infoxchange, offering insights into their projects and initiatives. Moreover, outstanding contributions were recognized through the IXcel Awards. I learned a lot about workplace culture, employee relations, and leadership structure during the meeting. It helped me enhance my understanding of our office's dynamics and how everything fits together.
The monthly meeting for the Connecting Up Team serves as a platform to share updates, highlights, plans, and activities. It provides a regular opportunity for team members to stay informed about ongoing initiatives, progress, and upcoming events. These meetings aim to keep everyone aligned with organizational goals and foster collaboration and teamwork within the team. As a participant in the meeting, I gained insight into the agenda, activities, and roles of every team member. It provided a comprehensive understanding of the organization's operations and facilitated better collaboration and alignment among team members.
9 April 2024
Updates from the Connecting Up Team includes monthly highlights, plans, activities
Infoxchange All Staff Town Hall Meeting 27 February 2024
During this meeting, we received updates from various departments at Infoxchange, including the CEO, Operations, Finance, and People & Culture. Additionally, Lightning Talks were presented by different teams within Infoxchange, offering insights into their projects and initiatives. Moreover, outstanding contributions were recognized through the IXcel Awards. I learned a lot about workplace culture, employee relations, and leadership structure during the meeting. It helped me enhance my understanding of our office's dynamics and how everything fits together.
Image: Anju with Volunteer Camille Sze Pui Ko
Lunch & Learn Sessions
Effective Meeting & Communication Skills 5 March 2024
Today's lunch and learn emphasized how important it is to communicate well wherever you are. It helps us connect better with others and brings many benefits. We talked about different ways to have effective meetings, like phone calls, texts, emails, or face-to-face chats, and how to choose the right one. It's also essential to involve the right people at the right time to get the best results and save time. Having a clear purpose and agenda beforehand helps everyone prepare. We learned to keep track of what needs to be done next and when, which keeps things moving forward. Surprisingly, emails have an environmental impact, so it's a good idea to keep them simple and focused.
IX Lunch & Learn Sessions Surplus for Purpose - Tomer Ginel - Chief Financial Officer 16 April 2024
This professional development session enabled participants to learn how understanding financials can help us deliver sustainable impact at scale, and what is important for everyone to know about finances.
Community & Cultural Events & Activities
International Women's Day Afternoon Tea and Talk 13 March 2024
At the event, our COO, Jo Davies, shared her career journey, which truly inspired me. She began her career in her late twenties in the UK and now holds the position of COO at Infoxchange. What struck me most is that she didn't study IT in university. Her story taught me that with determination and seizing opportunities, anyone can accomplish remarkable things, regardless of their background.World Autism Month Skills 5 April 2024
Key speaker Jim Mullan (CEO at Amaze)
During this session, I learned about Amaze's important work supporting people with autism. Jim talked about how Amaze helps with autism awareness and job opportunities. He say it's crucial to help people with autism and to include them in society. He also talked about the challenges people with autism face, like getting the right support. He talked about how important it is to detect autism early and give support. He said it can be hard to diagnose autism, especially in girls, and we need to do better at this. Jim also said it's important to be kind and include people with disabilities. Overall, they stressed the need for early support and understanding for people with autism and others with disabilities.
Stakeholder Events
Data Catalyst Network (DCN): Brings together people from across sectors, to break cycles of disadvantage through the innovative use of data.
Participants of the Data Catalyst Network will advance their data maturity while sharing and improving data insights through unique cross-sector partnerships to disrupt disadvantage. As a collective, the network will harness data and knowledge from the not-for-profit community sector, academia, government and business to better use and manage data to improve the lives of people across Australia.
DCN: Augmented Intelligence; Combining Organisation Data with Large Language Models 29 February 2024
Associate Professor Amir Aryani, Head of the Social Data Analytics Lab at Swinburne University, presented on Augmented Intelligence, The potential of Large Language Models (LLM) in business development, particularly in enhancing customer service and aiding business intelligence through data analysis.
While LLMs excel at general queries, they may lack specificity in addressing enterprise-specific issues. To overcome this, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is introduced, which supplements LLMs with external knowledge sources like corporate databases and industry reports. This framework ensures more accurate responses tailored to enterprise needs, while also addressing security and privacy concerns surrounding enterprise data.
Amir Aryani's talk delves into the integration of large language models (LLM) and generative AI into business workflows, introducing the concept of augmented intelligence. He discusses the benefits and challenges of these technologies, emphasizing the importance of data privacy, transparency, and control over AI processes to avoid vendor lock-in. He highlights the concept of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) as a solution to enhance LLM responses, addressing concerns such as security, skill gaps, and cost efficiency. While LLMs excel at general queries, they may lack specificity in addressing enterprise-specific issues. To overcome this, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is introduced, which supplements LLMs with external knowledge sources like corporate databases and industry reports. This framework ensures more accurate responses tailored to enterprise needs, while also addressing security and privacy concerns surrounding enterprise data.
Additionally, he explores the use of open source for building LLMs, emphasizing its advantages in terms of data privacy and security. He also mentioned recent developments in the generative AI space, including Meta's investment in large language models and OpenAI's Sora model for generating videos from text, while raising concerns about energy consumption and ethical use of AI.
DCN: Indigenous Data Sovereignty 20 March 2024
Jim O'Shea, the Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary at VACCHO (Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization), presented on indigenous data sovereignty.
He highlighted the importance of governing the creation, collection, ownership, and application of indigenous data, emphasizing the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to exercise ownership over their data. He discussed the development of principles and frameworks for indigenous data sovereignty, such as the First Nations Information Governance Centre principles and the Mom Nayri Wingara Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Sovereignty Collective.
He highlighted the importance of governing the creation, collection, ownership, and application of indigenous data, emphasizing the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to exercise ownership over their data. He discussed the development of principles and frameworks for indigenous data sovereignty, such as the First Nations Information Governance Centre principles and the Mom Nayri Wingara Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Sovereignty Collective.
He provided examples of how data sovereignty can benefit communities, such as in healthcare where data can be used to address issues like kidney disease. He also discussed challenges in accessing and sharing data with government agencies, offering assistance and resources to facilitate data sharing agreements. Overall, Jim emphasized the need for organizations to prioritize indigenous data sovereignty in their policies and practices.
DCN: Tools to get control of your Data 24 April 2024
This DCN webinar offered a thorough exploration of Microsoft Fabric's capacity to integrate data management and AI. Benny Austin's breakdown of its stack, features, and governance underscored its potential for secure and collaborative data utilization, driving innovation in organizations. The webinar not only equipped me with insights into Microsoft Fabric's capabilities but also deepened my understanding of effective data management strategies.
By elucidating the platform's features, governance mechanisms, and integration capabilities, the webinar empowered me to grasp how Fabric can streamline data processes, enhance security measures, and foster collaboration across different user roles. This knowledge broadened my perspective on leveraging advanced analytics platforms to drive innovation and informed decision-making within organizations.
Image: Interns Anju Odedara & Harsh Bhatt with Mentor Kristen Moeller-Saxone Data Capability Lead, Infoxchange
Mentor Meeting 15 March 2024
Connecting up offers a mentoring program for volunteers, where staff members act as mentors. Mentors meet with volunteers to discuss their roles and career interests, typically over coffee or in a meeting space for a work demonstration. The program aims to support volunteers by providing role assistance, fostering team connections, informing them about relevant training opportunities, and inviting them to social and team events.
I've selected Kristen Moeller-Saxone, the Data Capability Lead at Infoxchange, as my mentor to kickstart my career in the data field. Kristen has extensive experience in data and innovation, and she helps various non-for-profit organizations to set up data strategy roles in their organization. That is why she is an ideal mentor for me as I begin my journey in the field of data.
Here are my key takeaways from this mentor meeting:
1. Kristen highlighted prevalent challenges in data-related issues, emphasizing administrative, privacy, and ethical concerns, particularly in acquiring data access.
2. She underscored that AI is not a finished product and won't completely replace human involvement. Effective presentation skills are crucial, especially when conveying complex concepts to individuals with varying levels of understanding.
3. Developing strong interpersonal skills is essential due to frequent collaboration with diverse teams. Effective communication and teamwork enhance one's ability to convey technical concepts effectively.
4. Given the rapid evolution of AI, adaptability and a broad skill set are paramount for success in the field. Flexibility and a proactive attitude toward learning new skills are advantageous.
5. To keep up with what's happening in the data field in the future, it's crucial to pay attention to how your company is evolving. This helps you anticipate what might happen next and stay ahead of the game. Also, ensure that your company is prepared to support you as you progress in your data career.
Image: Volunteer Daisy Shan with Anju Odedara practicing Telephone Techniques Training
Communication Training
Effective communication is paramount, and to enhance our connection, we collaborated on refining our telephone techniques.
Digital Training & Development Volunteers and interns have access to the Connecting Up Digital Learning Platform providing live webinars and recorded webinars, workshops and webcons presented by subject-matter experts to understand more about a range of technology topics for the not-for-profit sector. They select, attend and comment on relevant training sessions they feel will enhance their internship experience.
As I want to be a data analyst, the things which I have learned from these webinars provide a foundation of data, and understanding the data is key of any analysis. The information in these will be very useful when I start working with any organization.
A practical introduction to Power BI
The world of data is changing, and big data is everywhere. The key finding for me from this webinar is the more organization understands the data, the more chance of growth for the organization. PowerBI helps to quickly create collaborative BI sites and it's more effective when you are solving a real problem for the cause and difficulty. It is easy to get lost in the analysis. Best to start with a hypothesis or a question.
As I want to be a data analyst, the things which I have learned from these webinars provide a foundation of data, and understanding the data is key of any analysis. The information in these will be very useful when I start working with any organization.
A practical introduction to Power BI
The world of data is changing, and big data is everywhere. The key finding for me from this webinar is the more organization understands the data, the more chance of growth for the organization. PowerBI helps to quickly create collaborative BI sites and it's more effective when you are solving a real problem for the cause and difficulty. It is easy to get lost in the analysis. Best to start with a hypothesis or a question.
Apart from learning some tricks and tips to ease working into excel I learnt that: There is an ingredient recipe for your event success. First- people that you know, second- people that you don't. Never let go any information, communication and automation- zipping them all together leads to success.
I learnt that, there are ways to lay the foundation for your data to get ready for the analysis. Data is everywhere. To start with the data, the foundation of data, organization of data and exploration of data is an important part of the data analysis. Data analysis is important for demonstrating the impact of services. Data architecture is also important. For data analysis Data is key, data quality should be great, if not, the insights won't be great.
From this webinar I learned that it's very important to see for data, who would use it and why. Data is useful for identifying trends and needs for service delivery and PowerBI is the best tool which can provide visualization, reports and dashboards. I think Power BI can demonstrate data and data sets in more creative ways like using numbers, charts, trends and creating dashboard is powerful way to show everything about data when any organization asks to. That’s how data visualization done in power BI can be useful for important decisions.
This webinar is very important when it comes to how to build an effective relationship with your IT partners, when you are in any business. even when people in big positions sometimes feel stuck acting as a traffic controller and not adding value to work. This webinar gives all strategies on how to build a successful relationship with your IT partner. Personally, I gained a lot of insights on what can be the key areas to look at, for instance, Response time, system update service level agreement what is included and what is not. Now if I join any farm in the future then I have gained insights into how to build relationships with your other IT partners, and how IT Service Management works. It's important to have good IT Service Management work because it improves the consistency of support. Also, it is good for governance.
Gain a clear understanding of your organization's data and impact using Power BI The world of data is changing, most NFPs do not have good information at their fingertips. When looking at the data, what types of information and what we can do about it is important. Also, with data looking at how do my outcome changes and how you can share best practices with your organization is helpful. This webinar gives insights on how powerBI is a powerful tool when it comes to making reports as well as exporting and importing data. PowerBI is useful for making reports and dashboards in an easy way transforming the data so it's ready for your models and visualization. I think when it comes to representing data to a story, PowerBI is very useful Resurce. Here we can link our data to a range of charts and demonstrate it in a report.
I found this webinar interesting because I didn't know about PowerApps, Power Automate, Power Virtual Agents, and Power Pages before. These tools are great for making apps, automating tasks, and improving business websites to enhance personal productivity and to help business a lot more efficiently. The power apps PowerApps offers non-profit organizations (NFPs) a user-friendly platform to capture data and digitize workflows without coding. Its intuitive interface allows staff to create custom apps tailored to their needs, integrating seamlessly with various data sources. With mobile accessibility and automation features, PowerApps streamlines processes, enhances efficiency, and provides real-time insights for informed decision-making, empowering NFPs to maximize their impact.
This webinar highlighted the importance of understanding different types of AI models, particularly generative AI like ChatGPT, which can create various forms of content such as text, images, music, and more. These AI models continually learn from interactions, making predictions and refining responses based on feedback. For non-profit organizations (NFPs), AI can be valuable for tasks like fundraising, event planning, accessibility enhancement, and risk detection, but ethical considerations such as privacy, transparency, and bias are crucial. Non-profits should stay vigilant about AI hallucination and always verify sources and privacy policies when using AI.
Image: Interns, Yi Han, Violet Zewei You, Anju Odedara & volunteer Rex Porter with Pankaj Chhalotre, Head of Connecting Up
My internship experience with SAcommunity as a part of the Data Analytics Team has been incredibly enriching and has provided me with valuable insights and skills that will be instrumental in my future career endeavors. Throughout my internship, which spanned from January 23, 2024, to April 26, 2024, I had the privilege of working on various projects and engaging in professional development activities.
One of the most impactful aspects of my internship was the opportunity to delve into the Port Lincoln council project, using Power BI for the first time. This hands-on experience provided me with a unique opportunity to bridge theory with practice, as I navigated through real-world scenarios, analyzing community service data trends to gain insights into local community needs.
Through trial and error, I gradually familiarized myself with the intricacies of Power BI, leveraging its capabilities to create insightful reports and presentations for community services. Despite the initial learning curve, I found immense satisfaction in applying my newfound knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the organization's mission of using data for informed decision-making and impactful solutions. This experience not only broadened my technical skill set but also instilled in me a newfound confidence in my ability to adapt and excel in unfamiliar territories.
Moreover, my involvement in stakeholder events such as the Data Catalyst Network (DCN) webinars provided me with valuable insights into emerging trends and technologies in data analytics, including augmented intelligence and generative AI. These experiences not only expanded my technical skills but also deepened my understanding of ethical considerations surrounding data privacy, transparency, and bias.
Attending various training sessions and events organized by Connecting Up further enhanced my knowledge and expertise in data management and analytics. From learning about Power BI and Excel for databases to gaining insights into Google Analytics and IT management, I developed a comprehensive understanding of data analysis techniques and tools essential for effective decision-making.
Furthermore, engaging in mentorship sessions with Kristen Moeller-Saxone, the Data Capability Lead at Infoxchange, provided me with invaluable guidance and support as I navigated through my internship. Kristen's extensive experience in data and innovation helped me gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in data analytics.
Overall, my internship experience at SAcommunity has been instrumental in shaping my career aspirations as a data analyst. I am confident that the skills and knowledge I have gained during this internship will empower me to make meaningful contributions to organizations seeking to leverage data for informed decision-making and positive social impact.
