Add as a preferred source on Google


Rice Using Google Cloud for COVID-19 Data Analytics

Rice University is using Google Cloud's data analytics tools to track COVID-19 cases among its campus community and make real-time decisions to keep students, faculty and staff safe. Combined with a comprehensive plan for testing, contact tracing and quarantining, the data-driven approach has allowed the institution to maintain an on-campus learning environment through the fall semester, according to a news announcement. Semester-to-date, the overall positivity rate at Rice is just 0.15 percent.

Rice worked with Google Cloud to roll out its data analytics solution back in July, including Big Query for data analysis and Looker for data visualization. For example, the university used Looker to create a publicly available COVID-19 dashboard, which provides metrics on COVID tests and positivity rates by current date, previous seven days and semester-to-date.

"Rice University is committed to education grounded in experiential learning, research, collaboration and the residential experience, but the COVID-19 pandemic created some significant challenges," said Klara Jelinkova, vice president for International Operations and IT at Rice, in a statement. "Thanks to the use of Google Cloud technology to track COVID-19 cases — and our own testing and contact tracing efforts — we were still able to preserve an immersive educational environment, providing an on-campus experience for our undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • student reading a book with a brain, a protective hand, a computer monitor showing education icons, gears, and leaves

    4 Steps to Responsible AI Implementation

    Researchers at the University of Kansas Center for Innovation, Design & Digital Learning (CIDDL) have published a new framework for the responsible implementation of artificial intelligence at all levels of education.

  • three glowing stacks of tech-themed icons

    Research: LLMs Need a Translation Layer to Launch Complex Cyber Attacks

    While large language models have been touted for their potential in cybersecurity, they are still far from executing real-world cyber attacks — unless given help from a new kind of abstraction layer, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Anthropic.

  • Hand holding a stylus over a tablet with futuristic risk management icons

    Why Universities Are Ransomware's Easy Target: Lessons from the 23% Surge

    Academic environments face heightened risk because their collaboration-driven environments are inherently open, making them more susceptible to attack, while the high-value research data they hold makes them an especially attractive target. The question is not if this data will be targeted, but whether universities can defend it swiftly enough against increasingly AI-powered threats.

  • magnifying glass revealing the letters AI

    New Tool Tracks Unauthorized AI Usage Across Organizations

    DevOps platform provider JFrog is taking aim at a growing challenge for enterprises: users deploying AI tools without IT approval.