AAi NewsBytes September 2014
Director's Welcome
September 2014
Half full and half empty was the feeling that I had when I stepped on the plane back from New York to Sydney after attending the KDD 2014. Half full, because it was a very well attended conference, with quality presentations, excellent knowledge sharing and a lot of networking. I need to congratulate the event organiser this year for making it the most influential annual event with over 2,200 valued participants. This also gives us a proper platform for hosting an inspirational 21st event in Sydney next August.
I couldn’t help feeling half empty, however, because the topic addressed by the conference, Data Science for Social Good, was a significant one which highlighted a number of tough challenges, as data scientists become an increasingly hot commodity. There is a serious risk that social organisations such as NGOs might be priced out of big data initiatives because of the demands placed on data scientists and the lure of well-paid positions with for-profit enterprises.
Nevertheless, there’s no shortage of useful data in most organisations and government departments which, when properly mined and interpreted by AAi, can create excellent opportunities for enhancing performance, productivity and business growth.
Prof. Longbing Cao
AAi Director
Register Now for 2014 Big Data Summit, 24-28 October Dr Usama Fayyad, CDO of Barclay’s Bank, Thomas Ryan, Assistant Commissioner of ATO, Prof Kai Lu of Tianhe-2, World’s Fastest Supercomputer, Julie Batch, CAO of IAG, and many more will share their views on Data Analytics at the annual 2014 Big Data Summit between 24 October and 28 October in Canberra and Sydney. The theme of this year’s Summit is “Innovate, Act and Lead” as Data Science and Big Data Analytics take up the challenge to help organisations improve decision making to gain market leadership. For registration or information, please click here or read more here | |||
Recap of KDD2014 in New York connecting to KDD2015 in Sydney KDD 2014 was a sell-out with over 2,200 attendees, positioning KDD as the largest and most influential conference in data science, data mining, and big data. Apart from its rich technical content, KDD2014 shows its special capacity to engage industry and government on a large scale, as can be seen from the participation of around 1,600 participants. This year’s theme, Data Mining for Social Good, attracted significant interest from Bloomberg, the financial, software, data and media company, in particular. KDD2015 will be held in Sydney between 10-13 August and we are proud to be hosting this event. Read more here | |||
Encouraging visitors to explore outside Sydney is the subject of new Data Analytics research Despite the digital revolution, good old-fashioned travel guides and travel agents are still the tool of choice for overseas visitors making their way to NSW. AAi is collaborating with the UTS Business School in the development of a trail – a visual map of where people go in regional NSW. Many visitors use their phones for social networking while they travel, and it is important to develop this type of interface. Contact jian.zhang@uts.edu.au to learn more or read here | |||
AAi Analytics Education and Corporate Training – More Courses to Come |