<p>A 24-year-old data scientist from Bengaluru spoke at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, recently. Smruthi Swaminathan was participating in the Annual Global Shapers Curator Summit there. </p>.<p>Leaders from 150 countries attended the conference between September 2 and 4, and she says she was among the youngest.</p>.<p>Along with Global Shapers Community, a network of young thinkers, Smruthi had made a bilingual manifesto consolidator website for the 2021 Tamil Nadu state elections. This won her an invitation to the WEF summit.</p>.<p>The website was built to apprise voters of the politicians who were standing for elections. The aim was to reach 10,000 voters but Smruthi’s team ended up connecting with 1.2 crore citizens, she claims.</p>.<p>“At the ‘Strengthening Civic Engagement in Local Communities’ workshop, I spoke about the importance of data in driving democracy,” Smruthi shares. She now plans to develop similar websites for elections in different cities, states and countries.</p>.<p>She is also planning “to collaborate with the Bengaluru members of Global Shapers to work on issues of mental health, sustainability and civic engagement.” These projects will roll out in the coming months. </p>.<p>“Attending the summit has made me realise that people’s issues are common globally and that it is important to collaborate instead of working in silos,” she signs off.</p>
<p>A 24-year-old data scientist from Bengaluru spoke at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, recently. Smruthi Swaminathan was participating in the Annual Global Shapers Curator Summit there. </p>.<p>Leaders from 150 countries attended the conference between September 2 and 4, and she says she was among the youngest.</p>.<p>Along with Global Shapers Community, a network of young thinkers, Smruthi had made a bilingual manifesto consolidator website for the 2021 Tamil Nadu state elections. This won her an invitation to the WEF summit.</p>.<p>The website was built to apprise voters of the politicians who were standing for elections. The aim was to reach 10,000 voters but Smruthi’s team ended up connecting with 1.2 crore citizens, she claims.</p>.<p>“At the ‘Strengthening Civic Engagement in Local Communities’ workshop, I spoke about the importance of data in driving democracy,” Smruthi shares. She now plans to develop similar websites for elections in different cities, states and countries.</p>.<p>She is also planning “to collaborate with the Bengaluru members of Global Shapers to work on issues of mental health, sustainability and civic engagement.” These projects will roll out in the coming months. </p>.<p>“Attending the summit has made me realise that people’s issues are common globally and that it is important to collaborate instead of working in silos,” she signs off.</p>