Bayes Impact is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, founded by Paul Duan, Eric Liu, and Pascal Corpet. Initially launched in the US in 2014, Bayes Impact started several projects throughout the world and especially in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Bayes Impact's mission is to use technology (

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

data science Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processing, scientific visualization, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge from potentially noisy, stru ...

) to tackle social issues at scale. Bayes Impact's slogan is "Empowering people at scale".

History

Launched in April 2014 in San Francisco, a few months later Bayes Impact was one of the first nonprofits to be admitted to

Y Combinator Y Combinator, LLC (YC) is an American technology startup accelerator and venture capital firm launched in March 2005 which has been used to launch more than 5,000 companies. The accelerator program started in Boston and Mountain View, Californi ...

, one of the Silicon Valley's most famous

seed accelerator Startup accelerators, also known as seed accelerators, are fixed-term, cohort-based programs, that include mentorship and educational components, and (sometimes) culminate in a public pitch event or demo day. While traditional business incubato ...

. The same year, Bayes Impact helped

Zidisha Zidisha is a peer-to-peer microlending service that allows people to lend small amounts of money directly to entrepreneurs in developing countries. It is the first peer-to-peer microlending service to link borrowers and lenders across internatio ...

, a

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

institution operating in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, to provide more affordable loans by reducing frauds. In 2016, Bayes Impact launched an online platform (URSUS) in partnership with the

California Department of Justice The California Department of Justice is a statewide investigative law enforcement agency and legal department of the California executive branch under the elected leadership of the Attorney General of California (AG) which carries out comple ...

to improve transparency on law enforcement agencies use of violence against civilians. URSUS collects police use-of-force data and is available in more than 800 police agencies.Top tech projects for social good in the UK and beyond
''Techworld'', January 8, 2019 In November 2016, the NGO launched Bob (formerly known as Bob Emploi) in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Bob is an online,

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

and free platform that uses artificial intelligence to provide data-driven, personalized advice to unemployed individuals in France to help them improve their chances. With Bob, Bayes Impact has made a partnership with

Pôle emploi France Travail (English: ''France Employment Agency''), previously Pôle emploi (; English: ''Employment Centre''), is a French governmental agency which registers unemployed people, helps them find jobs and provides them with financial aid. Cr ...

, France's unemployment agency. In July 2019, Bob had provided advice to close to 200,000 jobseekers. In the US, Bayes Impact also took part in research regarding care pathways of Medicare beneficiaries and on improving ambulances routes with

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

-like predictive algorithms.

Funding

Bayes Impact is a non-profit supported by

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, through individual, corporate or

foundation Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

donations. Among Bayes Impact's donors, are the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be List of wealthiest charitable foundations, the third largest char ...

, and

Google.org Google.org, founded in October 2005, is the charitable arm of Google, a multinational technology company. The organization has committed roughly US$100 million in investments and grants to nonprofits annually. The organization is noted for severa ...

Citizen-led public services

In June 2018, Bayes Impact published a manifesto on Citizen-led public services, providing a structure to the organisation's work towards the

common good In philosophy, Common good (economics), economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, common weal, general welfare, or public benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, o ...

. This manifesto promotes a new social contract, which empowers citizens to lead the way in building a new generation of public services backed by the infrastructure and guarantees provided by governments. This new social contract proposes to empower technological innovation to work for

public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...

with equal fervor as it currently does for private endeavor.Un Pacte pour un service public citoyen
''

La Tribune () is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH. From 1993 to 2007, was part of LVMH. In 2010, Alain Weill, the chair ...

'', June 15, 2018

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.bayesimpact.org/en/ Charities based in California