A host of internationally-acclaimed leaders in the field of data science have been confirmed as speakers for the upcoming two-day international conference, Data Summit. Leading the programme are ‘Weapons of Math Destruction’ author Cathy O’Neil and former NASA astrophysicist turned data scientist, Kirk Borne.
Data Summit will take place at the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh on 22nd and 23rd March with the theme of ‘data driven innovation’ and a special focus on collaboration. It forms a key part of DataFest18. Over 2,000 participants attended DataFest17 in March 2017, ranging from school children to politicians, academics to key industry players.
DataFest18 will build on 2017’s success with even more world class speakers and an aim to increase international participation and academic involvement. The target is to boost attendees by 500 – 25 per cent.
Gillian Docherty, CEO of The Data Lab, said: “In this second year of DataFest, we’ve pulled together a compelling programme of international speakers, all of whom are at the cutting edge of data technology across numerous industries. Their involvement within the event clearly demonstrates Scotland’s place as a key player on the global data stage.
“The Data Summit is a great opportunity for attendees to hear about others’ data experiences through sessions on how to lead successful programmes, communicating with data as well as compelling examples of transformation and future trends and much more.”
World-leading speakers joining the festival’s line-up also include Dr Hannah Fry, UCL and presenter of BBC TV’s The Joy of Data, Alex Depledge MBE, entrepreneur and rising-star of the British start-up scene and Eddie Copeland, director of government innovation at Nesta.
The programme of confirmed speakers for Data Summit 2018 includes:
– Cathy O’Neil, US based mathematician, blogger and author.
– Dr. Kirk Borne, Principal Data Scientist and Executive Advisor at Booz Allen Hamilton
– Dr Hannah Fry, UCL and presenter of BBC TV’s The Joy of Data
– Marios Michaelidis, Research Data Scientist. H2O.atechnology
– Erin Akred, Lead Data Scientist, DataKind
– Alex Depledge, Co-founder and former CEO Hassle.com
– Chris Speed, Chair of Design Informatics, University of Edinburgh
– Orsola De Marco, Head of Startups, Open Data Institute
– Dr. Iain Brown, Lead Data Scientist, SAS
– Mhairi Aitken, Research Fellow, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences & Informatics, University of Edinburgh
– Eddie Copeland, Director of Government Innovation, Nesta
– Stefaan Verhulst, Co-founder and Chief Research and Development Officer. The Gov Lab
– Warwick Beresford-Jones – Founder & Joint CEO, Merkle Aquila
– Shakeel Khan – Data Science Capability Building Manager, HM Revenue & Customs
Ticket prices for Data summit will go up to final release prices on 2nd March.
To buy tickets and find out more click here: https://www.datafest.global/