Peter Wang ardently believes in open access to data. That’s why he co-founded Anaconda, a free and open-source platform that crowdsources data science projects. Today, the platform has over 20 million users working collaboratively on projects across industries from finance to healthcare and beyond.
We recently spoke with Peter on the Forge Ahead podcast about making information accessible, providing easy-to-use tools, and promoting teamwork.
1. Make Information Accessible
Instead of keeping data under lock and key, make it accessible to everyone. When people are informed about their city or country, they have more power to create positive social change.
Peter believes that data can help people make informed decisions to reduce the cost of basic human essentials, including food, energy, and shelter. He stresses the importance of technology education, which enables people to collect and organize this data effectively. Having access to this kind of information helps people innovate and create solutions to social problems. Peter says, “We should unlock within everyone the creative potential to be entrepreneurial, to do interesting and new things.”
We learn from Peter that people are more prepared to navigate the fast-changing world with accurate data.
2. Provide Easy-to-Use Tools
Tools should be easy to use and available to everyone. Provide an easily accessible, intuitive tool and empower people to put it to the test. Then, incorporate people’s feedback to make the tool stronger and more accessible for a broader user base.
“In general, all of the new stuff we build, we build in the open with the community. And we put it out there, and people can work on it,” Peter says. “It’s a very crowdsource-innovation approach.” He explains that many technology tools, especially software, thrive as a result of this open approach to collaboration.
Peter teaches us that tools should be easy to use so that people can innovate and create effective solutions. He also teaches that you can improve the usability of your tools by making them available to a wide range of users.
3. Promote Teamwork
Collaborate with other professionals on big-picture work projects. Combining people’s diverse skills and knowledge will result in a more valuable product or service.
The first step is to set aside time for teamwork and collaboration. Peter says, “You have to develop both the capacity and the resources within an organization to shine an area light over everything.” This bird’s-eye approach to collaboration helps you prioritize projects based on everyone’s expertise and perspective.
We can learn from Peter’s insight that effective teamwork can lead to innovative products and overall company growth.
Visit the Forge Ahead homepage to hear the entire conversation with Peter.
