Nearly every citizen, business and organization was unprepared for Covid-19. As we come to grips with the concept of a “new-normal,” the need for accurate and reliable information in being able to adapt, change and pivot has never been more apparent.

In this talk, I will share a (data) scientist’s view of covid-19 and through the data, the models, and the dashboards.

An exploration of how data is changing, how traditional tools and techniques for exploring data are adjusting to keep in line with innovations in the field.

As AI continues to grow in popularity, the challenges of leading a tech team impacts nearly every industry, including Education, Finance, and Healthcare. Talent is not only hard to find, but leading a dynamic and complex group of experts and specialist can seem daunting. In this talk , we will  unlock the keys to successfully leading a tech team from the perspective of great technical leader in science and technology.

Narrative can do more than tell a story - it can serve as a tool for communicating with an audience. Marketers can tailor the business narrative for any audience by incorporating data and metrics. With the right data, narratives can turn a simple story into a magic bullet strategy that sells. Attendees will be introduced to the benefits incorporating data and metrics for exceptional storytelling and how it can transform nearly aspect of a business, from attracting the right customers to establishing your brand.

Data visualization is growing in popularity, but there is a wide range of opinions on the requirements for creating data visualization. As the theory and best practices continues to take shape, we can learn from pitfalls that occur in the real data set. This talk will present real world pitfalls in data visualization from the perspective of a data scientist, investigate how and why each one occurred, and present strategies for avoiding them that can be applied to any visualization.

Similarity measures are the driving force for nearly every machine learning algorithm and AI driven technology. From cleaning customer information, to ranking product recommendations, to identifying audiences, the application of machine learning and AI in media and entertainment are limitless. The latest technologies offers users the ability to implement these algorithms faster than ever, but selecting the right measurement can impact the performance, accuracy and scalability of any model.

In this talk, you will learn how similarity can be quantified using different measures and applied to fit the data, the model and the business objective.

Data collection methods in the real world are rarely a static process. Over time, the information collected by companies, researchers and data scientists can change in order to gain more insights or improve the quality of the information. Changing the data collection process presents a challenge for longitudinal data that requires aligning the new data with existing methods.

In the case of surveys, the introduction of new or modified questions and response choices is often problematic for aligning data collected over multiple periods. When changes are implemented, newly collected data must be compared against the existing data fields to match the correct fields of the survey and maintaining the data becomes challenging as the number of questions, responses, and respondents grow over time. 

Machine learning techniques are a valuable tool for tackling this challenging problem. In this session, learn how well fuzzy matching algorithms handles real world data.

For centuries, data visualizations have been used as a way of communicating important information. The best visualizations can do more than just communicate and make a meaningful impact, yet we often neglect to consider what makes them such effective tools. In this keynote, we explore the power behind data visualizations by asking the question: What makes a data visualization powerful? We will examine effective real-world data visualizations using a series of case studies, as well as identify the key takeaways that can be applied to improve the power of visualizations. Finally, we will learn how data visualizations can lead to better decisions.

Open source approaches to data science and analytics is no longer an option, but a necessity. The development of open source tools, such as R and Spark, is enabling companies to walk away from the traditional software licensing models and embrace innovation through the use of APIs, SaaS and DaaS. While the benefits of open source has been touted for years, transitioning to an open source approach presents a challenge for corporations. Success requires finding a balance between the required operations and the benefits of acceleration. In this talk, I will discuss the challenges faced by data science teams, the gaps that are often created during the transition to open source and how to avoid pitfalls that stands in the way of every complex organization. 

Historically, scientists, mathematicians and engineers were referred to as "natural philosophers". They observed phenomenon in the natural world and attempted to describe or quantify them. Today we are still observing the real world, however, technological advancement has revolutionized the way we interface with nature giving rise to data science and machine learning. This talk will explore data science's foundations and reinforce our relationship with the mathematical principles that refine our understanding of the world, while at the same time, expanding machine learning and AI.