Panel discussion on data science 2.0

This will be loosely the continuation of the panel discussion we had in January ( https://www.meetup.com/LAarea-R-usergroup/events/94967422/ ).

Motivation: While the term "data science" is relatively new, and maybe overhyped by some, many of its methods have seasoned and sound foundations in statistics, computer science and their various related fields (e.g. data visualization, machine learning, databases, distributed computing etc.). While there is perhaps yet no general agreement on what data science exactly encompasses (maybe ultimately it is "just" a multitude of statistical and computational methods for data analysis put in a modern context), it is generally agreed that these methods are very useful for many businesses in utilizing their untapped data for decision making, optimizing processes, and ultimately improving their bottom line.

However, due to the complexity of the methods, the skills required, and many methodological, technical and organizational challenges, it is not trivial to obtain the best results in a given business setting. In this meetup we'll have a panel of 5 seasoned professionals in the data analytical field (and all of them advanced R users and previously speakers at this group), who will discuss various aspects of the challenges in making data science and R achieve its maximum potential in companies.

Panelists: Eric Kostello, Yasmin Lucero, Jeremy Miles, Szilard Pafka, Rob Zinkov

Timeline:

• 6:15pm pizza arrives and networking

• 7:00pm panel starts promptly

Please arrive by 6:55pm the latest

Please RSVP as places are limited.

Venue: Adconion Media Group (3301 Exposition Blvd, Santa Monica). They will kindly validate parking and provide pizza and drinks (big thanks to Mikhail and AMG for that and for providing the place).