Harnessing Airflow for Data-Driven Policy Research at CSET with Jennifer Melot

Turning complex datasets into meaningful analysis requires robust data infrastructure and seamless orchestration. In this episode, we’re joined by Jennifer Melot, Technical Lead at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University, to explore how Airflow powers data-driven insights in technology policy research. Jennifer shares how her team automates workflows to support analysts in navigating complex datasets. 

Key Takeaways:



(02:04) CSET provides data-driven analysis to inform government decision-makers.

(03:54) ETL pipelines merge multiple data sources for more comprehensive insights.

(04:20) Airflow is central to automating and streamlining large-scale data ingestion.

(05:11) Larger-scale databases create challenges that require scalable solutions.

(07:20) Dynamic DAG generation simplifies Airflow adoption for non-engineers.

(12:13) DAG Factory and dynamic task mapping can improve workflow efficiency.

(15:46) Tracking data lineage helps teams understand dependencies across DAGs.

(16:14) New Airflow features enhance visibility and debugging for complex pipelines.

Resources Mentioned:

Jennifer Melot -

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-melot-aa710144/

Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) -

https://www.linkedin.com/company/georgetown-cset/

Apache Airflow -

https://airflow.apache.org/

Zenodo -

https://zenodo.org/

OpenLineage -

https://openlineage.io/

Cloud Dataplex -

https://cloud.google.com/dataplex

Thanks for listening to “The Data Flowcast: Mastering Airflow for Data Engineering & AI.” If you enjoyed this episode,