Big Data in Big Gov with Victoria Battista and Sean Gonzalez

Welcome to DC's first ACM talk....in a while! Join us as we hear a story of big gov to lean startup, and getting better answers through stats. [sponsored by DC ACM]

06:00PM Light refreshments and networking
06:30PM Intros and announcements
06:45PM Victoria Battista
07:30PM Sean Gonzalez
08:15PM Q&A

Sean Gonzalez, VP at Synapsify - The Random Walk between Government & Commercial Startup

There is a sharp divide between Government and Commercial industries. In short, Government does not support the open source movement, and in many cases specifically restricts its access. There are many legitimate and illegitimate reasons, from, "We can't validate this open source code." to the HUGE license costs associated with Government approved software that benefits the most active lobbyists.

This divide creates an almost impossible barrier, detrimentally affecting labor fluidity and our freedom to choose our employer.

Follow Sean as he outlines his experiences in transitioning from Government to the startup industry, its technical challenges and parallels, and ongoing efforts to reduce those barriers for others in the DC Metro area.

Victoria Battista, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Better Answers Through Statistics

Big Data sprouts like weeds from every crack and crevice of the internet and computing, prolific in its expansion, haphazard in its excess. It can tell us a lot, but often can’t be pruned down to answer important questions about our world. Enter the Big Government Survey.

Compiling massive amounts of data from tailored samples meant to answer specific questions, many BLS survey statistics are used in everything from academic research to policy decision making to employment escalation clauses and contracts. Victoria has worked with most of these data and has pulled out a couple of choice examples to show you how BLS data are used in the real world.