Articles from:November 2019

• Brock Datathon to showcase storytelling using data

  Wednesday, November 06, 2019 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 6 Nov. 2019 – R00175 

  Have you ever had an online conversation about a product which then starts showing up in online advertisements shortly afterwards? Welcome to the world of big data, where cell phones methodically catalogue your shopping interests for marketers.

  It’s just one example of how personal preference data is used by data scientists in an age of always-on, artificial intelligence (AI) powered marketing influence.

  On Saturday, Nov. 9 at Brock University, top talent from IBM, Deloitte, Shopify, Environics and more will present keynote speeches and deliver in-depth workshops to a host of enthusiastic data junkies and Brock students at the third annual Datathon conference.

  This year’s event, the Datathon 2019 Sustainability Challenge, offers an opportunity to learn how the “ads-coinciding-with-conversation” algorithm operates, how IBM’s Watson supercomputer learns to predict how a person feels with sentiment analysis or how the actuary field can predict financial risk.

  Datathon is a non-profit organization created by Brock University students Nour Hage, Shakti Pradhan, Conrad Lipiec and Thomas Lillo.

  This year, the team is offering live-streaming access to five other universities in Peru, Sweden and Spain. The international initiative will include schools who have less access to data centric programming at this level. Streaming content will put Brock in the global spotlight with the goal of scaling up future conferences to many more institutions.

  The event is open to all and will include a special presentation from the winner of the Sustainability Development Challenge – a case competition that invites teams to showcase effective storytelling using data.

  For fees and registration, go to https://www.datathon.ca

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  Kevin Cavanagh, Brock University Communications, [email protected] or 905-688-5550 ext. 5888 or 905 321-4310

  Michelle Pressé, Brock University Communications, [email protected] or 905-688-5550 ext. 4420 or 905-246-1963

  Categories: Media releases

• Study examines the rising role of ICT in Niagara’s tech sector

  Monday, November 04, 2019 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 4 Nov. 2019 – R00174

  From cars to computers, the Niagara region is going hi-tech — so much so that the overall percentage of job increases in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector is one of the highest in Ontario.

  “The region has a presence in every industry within the ICT sector, and commands considerable competencies in several of them,” says new research from Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO).

  The brief, titled Elusive Quest or Emerging Reality: Niagara’s ICT Innovation Cluster, paints a comprehensive picture of particular job increases and losses in Niagara’s ICT sector compared to provincial percentages.

  NCO Director and policy brief author Charles Conteh, who is also an associate professor in Political Science at Brock, emphasizes that the ability to “capture, transmit, manage and display data and information” is key to economic and social resiliency and productivity.

  “In the knowledge-driven economy of the twenty-first century, any region that misses the boat on the digital sector is practically stranded on a lonely island, facing the threat of economic and social stagnation or worse,” says Conteh.

  The policy brief, which makes recommendations on what should be done to advance the fledgling ICT sector, will be released at a panel discussion on Thursday, Nov. 7 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in Room 207 in the Cairns Complex at Brock.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  Kevin Cavanagh, Brock University Communications, [email protected] or 905-688-5550 ext. 5888 or 905 321-4310

  Michelle Pressé, Brock University Communications, [email protected] or 905-688-5550 ext. 4420 or 905-246-1963

  Categories: Media releases