Ignite the data revolution
Datafest will celebrate the successes and explore the challenges of the industry
Data innovation is disrupting all areas of our lives, from business to public services and beyond. From 20 to 24 March, Datafest will celebrate data innovation with a programme of events hosted across Scotland on the theme of #Datachangeseverything.
The week-long programme, which is the first of its kind in Scotland, will explore the successes, the challenges and the future of data innovation with the aim of catalysing activity across the country and showcasing the exciting projects which are already making a name for themselves on the international stage.
Run by the Data Lab, which is supported by the Scottish Funding Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise, the festival’s line-up of speakers and panellists includes Formula 1’s Mark Priestley, John Akred of Silicon Valley Data Science and Dr Hannah Fry from the BBC’S the Joy of Data.
The inspiration for Datafest stemmed from the success of the annual collider event Data Talent Scotland, which is now just one component of the celebration.
“Data Talent Scotland was really positive and we wanted to scale up that activity,” explains Brian Hills, head of data at the Data Lab.
“We work all around Scotland with universities, the public sector and industry and we know there is a huge appetite for doing things with data.
“We wanted to promote what we are doing in Scotland on an international map.”
Datafest shines a spotlight on data in Scotland, providing those in the sector – or those looking to break into it – with opportunities to learn from the experts and network with local and international talent, industry and academic leaders and data enthusiasts.
Over the course of the festival, delegates can attend the Data Summit at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, Data Talent Scotland at Murrayfield Stadium and a range of training and fringe events.
“The whole week is themed around #Datachangeseverything so we will showcase how data has and will change organisations and people’s lives,” says Hills.
“We have a number of fringe events all around Scotland running on the Monday to Wednesday. We have a day’s conference at Ayrshire College, we have a travelling art data bus, we have an oil and gas event in Aberdeen and a tourism event in Glasgow.”
Tickets for the Data Summit are available online and give delegates access to conversations on the successes and challenges of transformation using data and how what we have learned will help develop the use of data across the industry and social sectors in the future.
Data Talent Scotland brings together postgraduate data science students, data enthusiasts, universities and businesses from across Scotland.
The goal is to connect new data talent and education with industry, providing businesses with fantastic opportunities to tap into the best of Scotland’s skilled workforce.
On top of the Data Summit and Data Talent Scotland, there’s a programme of training events which includes a one-day workshop hosted by University of Edinburgh Informatics, a course by Jumping Rivers on R for big data and a workshop from the Data Lab which will take participants beyond the hype surrounding big data and demonstrate how better use of data can drive the value of a business.
“One of the key themes is leadership,” Hills explains. “To be successful in data it needs to be led from the top so we will be looking at how you go about doing that.
“We will be showcasing Scottish innovation with five start-ups who are going to do short reviews of how they are leading the way in data innovation and we will be discussing the future of ethics, the future of AI [artificial intelligence] and machine learning and the future of data – where is all this going.”
The overarching aim of the festival is to make a name for Scotland as a hub of data innovation on a global scale.
“Primarily we want to catalyse the discussion around data innovation and get more people participating, whether that’s selling services or using data in their business or organisation,” says Hills.
“We are bringing people together to learn from each other and we can see from ticket sales for Data Summit that over half of the people coming are heads of unique divisions or senior management level.
“We have been to a lot of local events and the conversation tends to be around Scotland.
“What we are trying to do here – and what we have done with the programme – is attract international speakers into the country to talk about what they are doing and inspire the delegates so that on the Monday after the event, when they go back to their job, they will think about doing something differently.”n
Weknowthereis ahugeappetitefor doingthings withdata