Meet the ICIJ’s First-Ever Neo4j Connected Data Fellow

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in partnership with the graph platform company Neo4j, are proud to welcome Manuel Villa as the first-ever Neo4j Connected Data Fellow.

The fellowship, announced last May, was inspired by the way graph databases strengthened reporting and helped journalists understand large datasets during ICIJ’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Panama Papers investigation. The fellowship aims to bring a dedicated journalist or programmer to work with ICIJ for six months to make sense of complex data and find stories inside networks.

Neo4j Connected Data Fellow Manuel Villa will join the ICIJ’s Data & Research Unit for six months.

Manuel stood out from a pool of more than 50 candidates because of his combined experience in finance, journalism and data. Read more here about his qualifications and background in data journalism.

“The ICIJ has been covering the offshore economy for the past five years and the importance of data in these investigations has been paramount. We’re looking forward to incorporating Manuel’s expertise to the team to keep exposing wrongdoing by connecting the dots in cross-border investigations,” said Mar Cabra, head of ICIJ’s Data & Research Unit.

Manuel used Neo4j in his investigations at Columbia University and he presented them at GraphConnect Europe in London this last May.

“Manuel is going to work on amazing and world-changing projects as the first Neo4j Connected Data Fellow at ICIJ,” said Emil Eifrem, CEO and Co-Founder of Neo4j.

“Leveraging data is vital to the future of investigative journalism. Through our work with ICIJ on the Panama Papers last year, we saw the global impact that graph database technology can have in the hands of investigative journalists and we’re looking forward to seeing what Manuel uncovers working with ICIJ.”

Read the full announcement and learn more about Manuel’s background and future work in the official ICIJ blog post.