On Tuesday, January 6, 2026, Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn, Executive Director of the Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP), and fellow research associates led a half-day workshop at the 59th annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-59). The session showcased methods for using open-source programming languages, large language models (LLMs), and generative AI tools for advanced text analytics.
Led by Dr. Derrick Cogburn, Dr. Tahir Ekin, and Dr. Haiman Wong of the American University Internet Governance Lab, the tutorial “Advanced Text Analytics Through NLP and Generative AI” introduced participants to different approaches to text mining and analytics. Joined by research associates Juliana Woods, Rachi Adikhari, Sofia Torres, and Juan David Lopz Becerra, the team walked through procedures for using bag of words techniques, NLP, machine learning, and generative AI on datasets such as the 2025 U.S. AI Regulatory Reform Request for Information (RFI) Comments. The session presented a practical overview of the increasingly refined tools available for conducting textual analysis.
The tutorial saw strong participation from a large, diverse, and highly engaged audience, with the structure of the session designed to prioritize accessibility, practical learning, and reproducibility. A private GitHub repository containing curated datasets, data dictionaries, and starter scripts was made available to participants, which significantly strengthened hands-on engagement and learning continuity beyond the session itself. The workshop also featured contributions from new collaborators based in Colombia ( Sofia Torres, and Juan David Lopz Becerra), further expanding the tutorial’s international and interdisciplinary scope.
Reflecting on the session, Dr. Cogburn described it as one of the strongest text analytics tutorials the team has delivered, highlighting the exceptional level of participation, the value of the shared GitHub infrastructure in facilitating learning, and the importance of international collaboration. He also confirmed plans to propose the tutorial again for HICSS 60, marking the event as a foundation for continued growth and future engagement.
