By Cheechee Lin
The Big Data Conference returns to UCLA Anderson for the second time on Friday, November 18.
Who should attend? This conference is for technologists, managers, directors, executives and entrepreneurs who are either providing technology solutions for their organization or using data analytics to make business decisions across all functional areas. Executives and director-level representatives from IBM, Google, Netflix, Uber, Microsoft and many other companies will participate as panelists or keynote speakers.
With the immense growth of the volumes of data collected, and the decrease in costs of acquiring and storing data, corporations and startups of every scale are equipped with a huge competitive advantage to extract valuable insights when they extract data to answer key business questions.
This one-day interactive conference, organized by the Easton Technology Management Center and the Center for MEMES at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, aims to explore big data challenges and opportunities by bringing together a cross section of industry experts and academic thought leaders who are shaping and defining the conversation around the business aspects of big data.
“Big data has been, and continues to be, an important area for UCLA Anderson,” says Dr. Vandana Mangal, Easton’s executive director. “Big data and analytics have been taught in our classes at Anderson since as early as 2012.”
This year’s theme of the Big Data Conference is disruption. How can we drive disruption in enterprises big and small in various industry sectors? Big data technology is creating new products and services, and entirely new businesses. The conference objective is to highlight two current technology areas: machine learning and artificial intelligence; and virtual reality and augmented reality. Both are disrupting sectors that include entertainment/media, health care, education and financial services.
The organizers expect teaching and research in this area to continue to play a key role in strengthening the sharing of information through academic industry conferences providing opportunities to learn and network. “We are very excited to bring together at the same table industry experts, faculty, and students to discuss the disruptive aspect of big data,” says Easton Center Faculty Director and Associate Professor Guillaume Roels.
Machine learning and AI expert and UCLA Anderson alumnus Matt Hersh (’08) of Factual agrees on the importance of discussing the future of big data. “Timing is ripe for the Easton Big Data Conference, as many of us find ourselves at a critical inflection point where we are sitting on established big data assets but are largely unable to tap into them for one reason or another. With the sheer amount of data being generated forecasted to grow exponentially over the coming years, the time is now to invest in the infrastructure, systems and people who can break down these barriers and harness the power of these extremely lucrative data assets.”
Neustar Inc.’s Dirk Beyer notes the opportunities that arise from asking the right questions around data, saying, “Big Data is moving rapidly from ‘How can I handle it?’ to ‘What can I do with it?’ to ‘How can I make it useful?’ It is a great time to compare notes with others who are obsessed with that question.”
Netflix senior data scientist and UCLA alumnus Andrew Parker (Ph.D. ’10) adds, “I’m too invested in data for me to answer this well. It’s like asking a barber if it’s a good time to get a haircut. The volume of data continues to increase and the cost of acquiring and storing data continues to decrease, if you’re properly positioned, and that translates into a huge competitive advantage. This (includes) everything from data around customers, potential customers, competition and internal business operations. You need to attend to the data opportunities in all these aspects if you want to succeed.”
“There has been a lot of talking about big data and analytics in recent years, with applications initially limited to a few niche markets,” says Roels. “However, the picture today is completely different. Big data and analytics transform industries and lead to innovative business models, enabled, among others, by the ubiquity of mobile technologies and the development of artificial intelligence.”
“Data analytics represent a tremendous opportunity for the media, entertainment and sports industries,” says MEMES Faculty Director and Professor of Marketing Sanjay Sood. “Analytics will help small companies become large, while large companies can create new forms of sustainable competitive advantage, if analytics are incorporated into the decision-making process. UCLA Anderson is at the forefront of data analytics, and this conference brings some of the best and brightest to share their knowledge.”
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