Google, NSF, Opower and Neustar - The Big Impact of Big Data

Ever wondered if people are really doing anything with big data or if it’s just a lot of noise? Or are you using big data already and want to hear how other people are making it work for them? Join us to learn more about how some major organizations are making an impact using big data. Schedule

6:00pm - 6:30pm Networking

6:30pm - 6:40pm Introductions

6:40pm - 8:15pm Speakers

Talks and Speakers (more coming soon)

Google - Felipa Hoffa

In 2011 Felipe Hoffa move from Chile to San Francisco to join Google as a Software Engineer. Since 2013 he's been a Developer Advocate on big data - to inspire developers around the world to leverage the Google Cloud Platform tools to analyze and understand their data in ways they could never before. You can find him in several YouTube videos, blog posts, and conferences around the world.Follow Felipe at @felipehoffa (https://twitter.com/felipehoffa).

“Data Warehousing at Opower”

Arjun Dasgupta, Opower, Research Engineer

Arjun is a research engineer at Opower working on Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. Over the last few years, he has led Opower's DW and BI initiatives. He has played an important part in architecting Opower's hadoop based data warehouse and tackling data scale, governance and integration issues. Prior to Opower, Arjun spent time in academia researching novel problems in databases, data mining and information retrieval.

Opower has grown from a small startup to a publicly traded company in the last 6 years. Our datasets have also grown exponentially in complexity and scale. In order to tackle this data explosion, we started an initiative to move our enterprise data warehouse to a scalable hadoop ecosystem. The focus was to get all our data in one place, where it could be queried, mined and analyzed at scale. In this talk, I will share our experiences in building this core piece of infrastructure, the benefits that we have reaped and challenges that we have faced along the way.

“High Performance Data Warehousing via Open Source”

Curtis Smith, Neustar , Director, Platform Services – Implementation and Integration

Curtis has been instrumental in the creation and development of Neustar’s Data Services organization which is responsible for Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence and over the last 4 years, Neustar’s Big Data initiative. He is involved in the creation of both internal and external facing analytic solutions including product offerings. He is known for his ability to design, develop and implement processes to effectively collect and transform massive amounts of raw data into useful information and knowledge for Neustar and more importantly their customers. He is an evangelist for innovation through the use of Open Source software and commodity hardware. Curtis has over 30 years of progressive software engineering experience with 24 years in the dynamic Communications / Telecommunications industry.

“Data2Action Project Outcomes and Achievements”

Dr. Fen Zhao, National Science Foundation, AAAS Policy Fellow and Staff Associate at the Office of the Assistant Director for Computer & Information Science & Engineering

As a AAAS Policy Fellow and Staff Associate at the Office of the Assistant Director for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) at the National Science Foundation, Dr. Fen Zhao focuses on building public-private partnerships around CISE's Big Data, next generation internet, and cybersecurity R&D portfolios. During her tenure as a AAAS Fellow, Dr. Zhao also worked at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on Big Data and national security S&T issues. Prior, Dr. Zhao was an associate with McKinsey and Company’s Risk Management Practice, serving public sector clients in the mortgage and debt markets. Fen received a BS in Mathematics for Computer Science and a BS in Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a PhD in Applied Physics from Stanford University. Her doctoral research was conducted at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, where she developed astrophysical simulations of magnetic fields within the early universe using supercomputers.

Abstract: Aiming to make the most of the fast-growing volume of digital data, in March 2012, the Obama Administration announced the “Big Data Research and Development Initiative.” By improving our ability to extract knowledge and insights from large and complex collections of digital data, the initiative promises to help solve some the Nation’s most pressing challenges. At the launch of the initiative, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and research funding agencies across the federal government (including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, and many others) announced over $200M in new funding opportunities for Big Data R&D.

Beginning in the second year of the National Big Data Initiative, the Administration encouraged multiple stakeholders including federal agencies, private industry, academia, state and local government, non-profits, and foundations, to develop and participate in Big Data innovation projects across the country. On November 12, 2013, dozens of public and private organizations met at a White House-sponsored “Data to Knowledge to Action” event to announce an inspiring array of Big Data related collaborations-- answering President Obama’s call for partnerships that can enhance national priorities, including economic growth and job creation, education and health, energy and sustainability, public safety and national security, and global development. In this talk, I will discuss some of the projects launched at the Data2Action their recent outcomes and achievements, focusing on interdisciplinary collaborations that focus on serving public and social good. I will also discuss new and continuing Big Data programs being planned by NSF and other agencies in support of Big Data in national priority areas in the next phase of the Initiative.