PyData Meetup @ BigData Republic

PyData Eindhoven & BigData Republic
We are very happy to announce that we are organizing the next PyData Eindhoven meetup in collaboration with BigData Republic. They will be our hosts in their office.

This meetup is set to take place on October 23, 2025, at Europalaan 93
3526 KP Utrecht. Mark your calendar and join us for an evening of insights, networking, and cutting-edge technology!

Program

• 17:30 – 18:00 Doors Open
• 18:00 – 18:10 🎤 Welcome
• 18:10 – 18:45 🎤 Manuel Spierenburg (BigData Republic) - Should Captain America Still Host Our Data? A Call for Open EU-Based Data Platforms.
• 18:45 – 19:30 🍕 Food
• 19:30 – 20:00 🎤 Ali Kohan (BigData Republic) and Rebra Himpour (Bol.com) - From €1M License to In-House Success: How We Built a Real-Time Recommendation System and Saved Millions Doing It
• 20:00- 20:30 🎤 - Gareth Thomas - Getting Started with Soccer Analytics
• 21:00 🥤 Drinks
• ---

First speaker: Manuel Spierenburg (BigData Republc)
Title: Should Captain America Still Host Our Data? A Call for Open EU-Based Data Platforms.
Abstract: When you store data in the cloud, do you know who really controls it? In an era of increasing geopolitical tension and growing awareness around digital sovereignty, Dutch research institutes have already begun repatriating sensitive data from US servers to Dutch-controlled storage. This talk explores the hidden risks behind common cloud choices, from legal access by foreign governments to the ethical implications of supporting politically active tech giants. We’ll look at what it means to own your data, how regional storage might not be enough, and what it takes to build an EU-hosted, open-source data platform stack. If you’re a data engineer, architect, or technology leader who cares about privacy, control, and sustainable infrastructure, this talk will equip you with the insight—and motivation—to make different choices.

Second speaker(s): Ali Kohan (BigData Republic) and Rebra Himpour (Bol.com)
Title: From €1M License to In-House Success: How We Built a Real-Time Recommendation System and Saved Millions Doing It
Abstract: When we at Bol decided to personalize campaign banners, we did what many companies do: bought an expensive solution. As a software engineering team with zero data science experience, we integrated a third-party recommender system for €1 million annually, built the cloud infrastructure, and waited for results. After our first season, the data told a harsh truth—the third-party tool wasn't delivering value proportional to its cost. We faced a crossroads: accept mediocrity or build our own solution from scratch, tailored to our requirements and architecture.

We'll walk you through our journey of building a more intelligent and flexible recommendation system from the ground up, and how this journey saved us over a million euros per year. We will share the incremental steps that shaped our journey, alongside the valuable lessons learned along the way."

Third Speaker: Gareth Thomas is a sport enthusiast who will share some insights on how to get started with soccer analytics, with mplsoccer and StatsBomb. This will be an live coding session to get you thinking about how the sporting world keeps track of its data and how to empower others to contribute to open-source projects.