SPEAKERS AT VK21
This year’s speakers at the Visualizing Knowledge conference give an extensive view on democracy. The conference theme visualizing democracy is explored through their broad expertise – ranging from data journalism to health and welfare – and guarantees exciting talks with compelling visualizations.
Federica Cocco
Federica Cocco is a statistics journalist at the Financial Times. She started her career as a fact-checker in politics and specialised in policy: from education to crime, immigration and economics. Federica joined the Financial Times in 2016, after working as a political and data reporter for the Daily Mirror and The Times. Together with John Burn-Murdoch, Federica will invite the VK21 audience to look into the numbers behind the news in a fun and engaging way.
Topi Tjukanov
Can open-source technology lead to more democratic usages of data? This is one of the questions that Topi Tjukanov, from nearby Helsinki, seeks to answer in his work. An enthusiast in mapmaking and the study of geospatial data, Tjukanov is also concerned with lowering entry barriers for newcomers to the fields of data analysis and advanced visualization. Tjukanov works at Gispo Ltd., but also runs a #30DayMapChallenge every autumn that anyone passionate about mapmaking can participate in - in November 2020, the community of more than 1,000 enthusiasts produced over 7,000 maps!
Timo Aho
Timo Aho of Finland explores the intersections of human rights and the visual arts through design and sculpture focused on site-specific implementations. Through his usage of a wide range of materials and forms, Aho has been an internationally exhibited artist since 2016, and his work demonstrates a unique ability to intersect a range of cultural and artistic spaces.
Olli Ketonen
Visual forms can sometimes be limiting. Olli Ketonen, an audio designer and composer, strives to translate data into an audible form - he has worked locally on an air quality dataset and created a data sculpture known as “The Pulse of Tripla”. Ketonen has a background in video game music and is now finalizing his studies right here at Aalto University!
Boeun Kim
I'm a media designer with a background in Fine Arts. I am currently studying MA in New Media Design at Aalto University. I came to Aalto University to learn about design for the modern world with new technology. My artistic works informed my identity as a Korean and Canadian in relation to the surrounding world around myself. My interest is in designing for interaction and inclusivity.
Fabio Bergamaschi
Fabio Bergamaschi is a freelance professional working in the Information Design field. Since 2013 he's been part of the Information is Beautiful team, working on books, online projects and commercial projects for external clients. In 2020 he's been Lead Designer for the Beautiful News project, directed by David McCandless and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He regularly works with other clients including start-ups, public institutions like the UN World Food Program, and magazines like Vice World News. In 2017 he also started a career as a design teacher, currently he is holding a course at the Master in Design Management, Istituto Marangoni, Milan.
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Sarah Nankivell
With the question of the impact architecture has on the world around us, Sarah Nankivell of Goldsmiths (London, UK) - the manager of the Forensic Architecture research group there - strives to investigate and address human rights violations and destruction through a unique lens. FA’s work also addresses open and democratic ways of collecting and disseminating data.
Jonatan Hildén
Finnish information designer Jonatan Hildén (founder of Koponen+Hildén) has worked on diverse projects in data design since 2006. Recently, alongside fellow VK21 speakers Aho and Niittyvirta, he has worked technically on a visualization project depicting projected sea level rises in the coming years. Hilden lectures and teaches here at Aalto University.
Irene de la Torre Arenas
An important step in truly democratizing data for all, Irene de la Torre Arenas of UCB, Spain has made great strides in visualizing data in ways that are comprehensible to anyone. She has a background in data journalism and focuses on pressing social issues, like voting or more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Johan Himberg
A representative from one of our partners, Reaktor, adviser Johan Himberg has a wealth of experience with data and machine learning both in academics and industry. Much of Himberg’s work explores the interaction between artificial intelligence and users in different professional contexts.
Mustafa Saifee
Mustafa Saifee is designer + developer based in Helsinki, Finland. Currently, I am working as a Sr. Designer in Futurice, focused on helping organizations use their data more efficiently and effectively. I have vast experience designing complex applications and tools used in data-driven decision-making. My main interest includes data visualization, information design, and UI/UX design. I am very keen on combining design and data to communicate impactful stories in innovative ways.
Sini Kerminen
Sini Kerminen is a Postdoctoral researcher studying population genetics and health at the Institute of Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki. In addition to the scientific work, she has been active in communicating her science to the wider audience.
Pei-Yu Lin
Pei-Yu Lin is a visual designer from Taiwan working for YurStudio. Their presentation will be about their journey of designing a start toolkit which aims to bring encouragement of exploring the unfamiliar information from news articles by hand-on practice, and a data viz interface that acts as an invitation of exploring the unfamiliar information from news articles by story-telling experience.
John Burn-Murdoch
John Burn-Murdoch is a senior data visualization journalist at the Financial Times, where he finds stories using data analysis, using words and graphics. Part of the FT’s interactive news team, he works as a journalist alongside developers and designers to produce a mix of long term data-driven projects and same day interactive news stories. Together with Federica Cocco, John will invite the VK21 audience to look into the numbers behind the news in a fun and engaging way.
Mollie Pettit
A force for bringing together those passionate about data visualization and information design, US-based Mollie Pettit has devoted herself to creating community spaces, global events, and even a community home to share and discuss data. Pettit is experienced in creating technical frameworks for visualization, like her demo project Observable Plot, and also has a background in mathematics and geology.
Kalle Järvenpää
Using graphic design to directly serve democracy, Aalto University’s own Kalle Järvenpää creates software to help voters find the ideal candidates to vote for, by using already publicly-available data. With a background in graphic design and experience in several different fields of design, Jarvenpaa’s unique system of giving advice to the populace has potential for many new discussions surrounding politics and democracy.
Pekka Niittyvirta
Exploring the intersection of documentary, conceptual, and experimental art, artist Pekka Niittyvirta creates diverse projects that challenge social norms and concepts. Niittyvirta is local to Helsinki, but is an internationally exhibited artist with pieces in collections worldwide.
Jonas Alsaker Vikan
Jonas Alsaker Vikan is an award-winning Norwegian journalist, who since 2012 has been doing investigative reporting. His work has been honoured by several organizations of the Norwegian press, including a diploma from SKUP (the foundation for investigative journalism) and Story of the year from the Norwegian Online News Association. At VK20 he will present his latest work Land of leaks which has analyzed a database of 1,4 billion passwords belonging to people all over the world.
Adina Renner
Adina Renner is a visual data journalist at Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) in Switzerland. At the intersection of data, design, and code, she creates stories that connect people and complex subject matters. Besides her work as a journalist, Adina consults NGOs and government institutions in matters of information design and data visualization. She holds a Master’s degree in Information Design from Aalto University.
Jon McClure
London and New York Desks Editor at Reuters Graphics
Simon Scarr
Deputy Head of Reuters Graphics Singapore
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