Data Science Festival - London 2017

Data Science Festival

One of the great things about London is the variety of tech events/meetups that happen every single day, and best of all, the vast majority are free!

An excellent example of such events is the Data Science Festival 2017 that took place from 24-30th of April. All the events during the week were free, and the talks were very informative. It gave me the opportunity to meet people that are part of the Data Science community in London and pick their brains about the field. Also, I got to understand how different industries (media, travel, finance, etc.) use Data Science to enhance their businesses.

My favourite talk was by Jay Liu, DSF Mainstage Day. Below some of the things/tips/insights that I’ve learnt from his talk - what makes a successful Data Science Project:

  • Data Science is a team sport; it is a marathon, it takes time
  • The goal of a Data Science project should be how we can improve/change the business
  • Collaboration is key to the success of the project
  • Incentives aligned with the business
  • Financial benefit of the project
  • Set overall strategy + KPIs
  • Culture of change
  • Who is leading: The leader needs to be able to inspire, infuse, communicate
  • Infographics: Ability to create trust in their work.
  • Language: Usability / Easy to understand
  • % Time spent: Understanding the problem vs. coding
  • Data: Quantity, quality, relevance
  • How is the project going to make it to Production

Note: Jay’s talk was recorded, so once is available, I will update this post with the link.

In essence, it was a great week for anyone in London that is getting involved / starting / interested in Data Science.

Written on May 1, 2017