DLD13 Liveblog: What's holding back the data revolution?

What's holding back the data revolution?

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The modern discipline of data science understands the world around us through patterns of information

DJ Patil is not a musician but he has the "most sexiest job" in the world right now (Harvard Business Review, Data Scientist is the sexiest job of the 21st Century), Steffi Czerny introduced the smart Data Scientist of Greylock partners.

We have to realize the power of data is the main message to the audience today. But everyone is talking about Big Data at the moment and maybe it's just a hype. Well, there's a truth in every hype.

DJ Patil 3

DJ Patil

Big Data should be "the word of the year" and DJ talked about how big data can give competitive edge to "Moneyball". How to use data the right way? It's always being on the edge, e.g. weather forecasts - full of data, helpful to move people out of the way, being proactive when a special weather situation makes it necessary.

How using people data? A very good example is the US-election 2012. Harper Reed, CTO of the Barack Obama Campaign, used data to interact with people in new ways - and called it "Moneyball"-Campaign. His predictions of the election was very accurate but first he was not been taken seriously!

The intelligent use of Big Data is the challenge. For example, a heating system for a flat should know the preferred temperatur but should be intelligent enough not to heat all the time.

Now, everyone is talking about Big Data - it's like teenage sex. Everyone is talking, but no one knows how to do it. Data Scientists put the light in the darkness. Remember Spock and the Enterprise. Do you have a Spock on your bridge? He told you every data for making the best decisions. Maybe a dashboard could be your Spock. Usually dashboards are filled with a lot of data, but more data isn't always better data. The interpretation of the data is the big thing. With a good interpretation of data, data helps us to get better, it teachs us and makes people more efficient.

But wait! Data can fail us! It can be a bottle neck, e.g. using a navigation system. A lot of people just don't think about consequences of using a navigation system. Sometimes it ends up in the water... So, do you have the right data and the right people to interpret them? Use data to have a conversation!

And don't forget "Put the human back in the equation!"