Rebekah Jones Honored As Forbes 'Technology Person Of The Year'

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Forbes business magazine has named Rebekah Jones as its inaugural "Technology Person of the Year" for 2020. As the Florida’s chief data scientist, she helped build the state’s COVID-19 dashboard at the start of the pandemic.

She was fired from the Department of Health in May for what Gov. Ron DeSantis described as "insubordination." Jones, considered a whistleblower by many, said she was fired for not manipulating data to support the state's reopening.

She went on to create her own independent coronavirus tracking dashboard, Florida COVID Action. She also uses her platform to track COVID-19 cases in schools nationwide.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents raided her Tallahassee home in early December, seizing her computer and smartphone. They also pointed guns at Jones and her children, she tweeted.

According to a warrant, an unauthorized message compelling DOH employees to speak out was sent from the state's emergency management account on Nov. 10. It was traced back to an IP address at Jones' home, reports said. She has denied sending the message. She has also reportedly sued the FDLE, calling the basis of their search on her home “a sham,” and asked the courts to force state police to return her computer equipment.

Forbes lauded Jones as “the latest technologist who stepped up to fill the vacuum left by governments during COVID-19.”

Heres's what Forbes wrote about Jones: "The former chief data scientist responsible for Florida’s highly praised Covid-19 tracking dashboard came to national attention in December after the police raided her home, guns drawn, and seized her computer and smartphone. Fired in May from the state’s Department of Health for what she says was a refusal to manipulate data, Rebekah Jones launched an independent Covid-19 tracking dashboard and, later, a dashboard tracking cases in schools. Florida officials claim that unauthorized access to the state’s emergency alert system was traced to an IP address associated with her account, an accusation Jones denies. Regardless, she is the latest technologist who stepped up to fill the vacuum left by governments during Covid-19. "

Jones celebrated the honor on Twitter, posting, “I never thought I’d be this excited to be recognized singularly for being a geek!!!!”