Over 2,000 attendees and dozens of exhibitors and speakers gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on June 14th and 15th to exchange ideas, knowledge or simply get up to speed on what Big Data has to offer these days. Golfdale Consulting was fortunate to be one of the exhibitors. We loved the energy and enthusiasm in the room and we walked out of the Conference energized ourselves.
Our 7 high-level observations from the Big Data Conference:
- Big Data is still underestimated and not completely understood in scope, span and complexity
- Many seem to pigeon-hole data-science into an IT “add on” versus a distinct practice area onto itself with unique change management, infrastructure and application requirements
- While there is awareness that data science in many cases is being used at a fraction of its full potential, tackling the task of turning “findings” into “action” to drive “results” still seems daunting to many
- There is still some lack of full appreciation that data science has uses across organizational functions
- An abundance of technology solutions throughout the data pipeline, still leave the important “why” at the beginning and the “so what” at the end wanting for more expert attention
- With exponentially increasing data availability and data processing capabilities, comes the need for Data Strategy
- Millennials we met from every discipline – not just the traditional computer and data science graduates – recognize the potential of Big Data and have a solid grasp of what is offered today and are well on their way to become the next “disruptors”
We had an educational and uplifting two days, meeting many talented professionals. While it’s always difficult to set aside two days for a non-core activity, as the MasterCard commercials would say, the time we invested was priceless!
Were you at the Big Data Toronto Conference or another Big Data Conference recently? Comment below and share your observations!