About my work
Back around 2010, when big data became a big thing – open source, buzzy, popularised in movies – I noticed many Business Intelligence practitioners changing their titles to data scientist. I also noticed that only my male colleagues were following this trend. True, there are overlaps in the evolving definition of these roles but not enough to justify re-badging. Soon, data scientist became the Sexiest Job in the 21st Century – I still wasn't tempted. I wanted to skill-up, authentically.
This time four years ago, I attended a Women in Data Science event at UTS where four amazing women from Masters in Data Science & Innovation (MDSI) talked about their projects, what they were doing with their new skills and the freedom of innovating across disciplines. They were having so much fun and I was gobsmacked. Wow, intellectually sexy women, I wanted to play with them! Enrollments had already closed but where there’s a will, there’s a way and I jumped on the MDSI wave as a late entrant.
I initially considered studying data science as a way of updating my technical skills but UTS MDSI gave so much more to fill my toolbox. The holistic approach, focus on ethics and data science as a team sport, along with the transdisciplinary electives also opened my eyes to how I wanted to use them.
A memorable win
Today I am a data scientist but still incomplete. While my MDSI studies coincided with the work of the Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence (IP//AI) incubator, just down the road from UTS, I was completely unaware of these works. Once again I was gobsmacked. How is it that an holistic, ethics focused course in data science did not touch even on this ancient knowledge? A future win that I hope to achieve is to help ensure future cohorts do not miss out on Indigenous Principles in their scholarship of AI, deep learning and data analytics.
Bio: I am a solution finder. I ask questions. I excel at being dropped in the deep-end. My superpower is making-it-up-as-I-go-along. Blythe as it sounds, this is pretty much what I get asked to do and in the area of innovation, it is a fantastic trait to have! I draw on my experience and skills to seek out the underlying issues. I think broadly, make connections and explore problems with an open mind. And now for a more conventional description...
MaryAlice is a leading data practitioner and sought after facilitator with a passion for problem solving and sharing ideas, who gets excited about bridging the gap between technical and non-technical team members and sharing her skills through charitable programmes. Her experience reviewing, designing, developing and implementing BI solutions over a wide range of industries has culminated in deep technical and theoretical expertise with a strong appreciation of the need for exploration and effective skills transfer.
As a data scientist with transdisciplinary interest in leadership and learning, MaryAlice is presently drawing on her experience in BI and Analytics to improve thinking around data science for creators, consumers and regulators of data science.
Her specialties include data narratives, contextual validation and turning data into information.
Websites
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryalicerasmair/
Old Ways, New – IP//AI UNESCO: https://oldwaysnew.com/news/2021/10/27/unesco-paper-published-anat-stories