We are delighted to announce the exciting line-up of speakers for Our Future, the first DataFest21 themed weeks of events.
Our speakers include Robin Winsor – a highly influential futurist who is known for being both a playful and provocative agent of change – who will be discussing the role of artificial intelligence in the future of teaching. We’ll also be hearing from Gemma Milne, science writer and PhD Researcher at UCL, and Priya Lakhani – an entrepreneur who has founded a food business, a social enterprise, and leads a company developing the latest artificial intelligence and big data technology to understand how the brain learns. We’re very excited that the fabulous Maggie Philbin will once again be our host for the Data Talks and Data Talent events.
We are so excited to be hosting DataFest for the fifth year. The format of this year’s events is different from previous years; the majority of events will be held online, with our annual Summit planned to be a hybrid virtual and face to face event in November. This is a wonderful opportunity for more people to get involved from the comfort of their own home!
The overarching theme of DataFest 2021 is #OurData. In previous DataFests, we have celebrated the individuals and teams driving data innovation in Scotland. This year, we are focusing on all of us – a community which can collect, create, and use our data for good. Throughout 2021 we will be exploring the theme of #OurData and the impact data has on people’s lives in the 21st Century. We’ll be tackling the big questions from the perspectives of #OurPlanet – covering the environment and climate change; #OurPeople – which covers all things social, including health and wellbeing; and #OurFuture – exploring the companies and technologies that will shape the decades to come.
The first of these events are coming around quickly; the ‘Our Future’ week will tackle cutting-edge technologies and innovative uses of AI and our data.
Data Talks – free event
18th May 10am – 12pm
Hosted by the wonderful Maggie Philbin OBE, in this fantastic free event we’ll be joined by keynote speaker Robin Winsor – inventor, entrepreneur, and futurist. Robin will be discussing the role of artificial intelligence in modern teaching models and what intelligent machines will mean for students and teachers in the 21st century. We’ll also be showcasing the work of Data Innovation.AI – a fascinating organisation striving to make workplaces safer in a post-pandemic world.
Data Tech
18th May 1pm – 4.30pm
Hosted by Gemma Milne, science writer and PhD Researcher at UCL, Data Tech brings together members of industry, the public sector, and academia to discuss emerging research in data science. Our first keynote speaker Ellen Friedman, Principal Technologist at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, will be discussing why data science and artificial intelligence is too important to be left to Data Scientists alone. Our second keynote, Albert King, Chief Data Officer in the Scottish Government, will be highlighting the importance of bringing trust and ethics into artificial intelligence.
There will also be breakout sessions and panel discussions featuring Megan Stamper (Principle Data Scientist, BBC), Helen Hastie (Professor of Computer Science, Heriot-Watt University), Euan Gardner (Researcher PhD Student, Ryerson University), and Robert Walker (Founder, Data Innovation.AI).
Data Talent
19th May 12pm – 5.30pm
Data Talent is a forum for students where they can land their dream job and employers can recruit their ideal candidate. Our host will be Maggie Philbin OBE and our first keynote is Priya Lakhani – an entrepreneur who has founded a food business, a social enterprise, and now leads a company developing the latest artificial intelligence and big data technology to understand how the brain learns. Our second keynote is Matt Higgs – a Lecturer in Business Analytics at the University of Bristol and a Co-Investigator on the UKRI-funded project ‘Observatory for Monitoring Data-Driven Approaches to Covid-19′.
Click here to book tickets for Data Talks, Data Tech, or Data Talent