T4G’s Geoff Flood Is Big on Big Data
SAINT JOHN – T4G president Geoff Flood is big on the potential in big data.
That’s why, for the fourth year in a row, he’s helping organize the Big Data Congress, taking place Oct. 17 to 19 in Saint John.
“We started the whole project firstly to raise awareness of the potential for big data and big data analytics to create an opportunity for people in Atlantic Canada to create and export jobs here,” Flood says. ” Because we’ve got the educational institutions, the workforce and everything that’s needed to build competency in a new industry.”
Big data refers to extremely large data sets that can be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations. The Big Data Congress aims to highlight the business and economic potential of data science and how it can transform business, government and society. The event brings in leading thinkers from around the world to share how others can take advantage of the trends and opportunities big data has to offer. This year the congress will also focus on the industrial internet, also known as the Internet of Things (IoT).
To many, big data may sound like an abstract concept, or just another buzzword tech gurus are throwing around. But Flood says the congress will show how big data can be used in business applications.
“The objective this time around is to make it real, to communicate through the wider community how value is created by big data,” Flood says. “We’re trying to line up real-world practitioners, academics and business people . . . to show real world applications of big data.”
Flood says technology is a democratizing force and embracing big data will help Atlantic Canadian businesses play on the global stage. In fact, one of the reasons the Big Data Congress was established was to get Atlantic Canada positioned as a leader in the industry. He says Atlantic Canada already has some strong leaders in big data, and is the region is on par with other areas when it comes to leveraging big data. But the goal now is to scale that up.
“We need the leaders to be able to share their leadership and share their knowledge with other people,” he says.
“I think where we’ve come up short is in our belief that we can be competitive with anybody in these technologies. It’s maybe a confidence question more than a competency question. “