Edmonton tech community to host Analytics, Big Data and The Cloud conference

April 13, 2012 2:24 pm 5 comments

On April 23rd to the 25th at Edmonton’s Fantasyland Hotel, the largest conference in Canada (and to my knowledge the first of its kind for Alberta) focused on analytics, big data and cloud computing will be held.  

The organization behind this innovative conference is the Alberta Council of Technologies (ABC Tech).  Conference Chair Perry Kinkaide has been working tirelessly along with the rest of the organizing committee to bring on key sponsors, speakers, panelists and of course attendees. 

We’re proud to announce that fusedlogicTV has been hired to provide a live video stream of the keynote speeches, as well as, one on one interviews with the speakers, sponsors and attendees at our on-location set.  

Syndication

We’re expanding the reach of this conference not only by providing the live video stream from our website, and that of the conference website www.bestofanalytics.com but we’re also going to “syndicate” our stream for free to anyone in this industry who’d like to drive additional traffic to their website.  This is a tremendous opportunity for sponsors of the event, organizations within any of the three main topic areas mentioned above, bloggers and government agencies regardless of their physical location.  

Once we release the “embed code” website owners can create a page on their site that carries the video player and promote the content to their online networks.  Everybody wins. 

Bloggers invited

Something new we’ve suggested to ABC Tech was a “bloggers lounge”.  Why not provide a special experience for local Edmonton and Alberta bloggers who are interested in networking, learning more about this area of technology, and would like to condense a ton of content generation into 3 days.  This unique space will house our on-location set, and enough room for approximately 40 bloggers/media.  We’ve also arranged for each keynote speaker to visit the bloggers lounge after their speech for an on-camera interview and blogger Q/A.  This gives the bloggers a great opportunity to get a story that others will not.

There is a small fee of $50.00 for the bloggers lounge to cover refreshments for the 3 days.  Power, internet, tables, chairs, food, drink and access to watch all the keynotes will be provided.  You’ll also be able to network with attendees in the lobby, and if you’d like you can pay an extra $25.00 for the Recruiters Reception on Tuesday night, that should be a great party and networking opportunity.  

ABC Tech invites bloggers to RSVP by sending an email: info@abctech.com or by phone 780-990-5874

Start-up Edmonton

Tuesday night is also the hack-a-thon being put on by Start-up Edmonton in conjunction with ABC Tech, apparently there’s some pretty cool prizes led by The City of Edmonton’s IT Branch.  This will be another great opportunity to see our local programmer community strut their coding abilities.  This will be cool and we’ll look to cover the action as well.   

Discounted conference ticket

Want to attend the full conference and save some dough?  Use this discount code (case sensitive) “Fused4U“

 

  • Barb

    First day impressions – “Analytics 101″

    I attended the “Introduction to Analytics & Big Data” pre-workshop to get up to speed. The presenter’s strange anecdotes and lots of references and quotes revealed the depth and breadth of the topic very well. I liked all the group interaction and got a sense of how people are working with – and even wrestling with – data in various fields in Alberta.

    Biggest surprise: I find myself loathing and loving the possibilities presented by analytics in about equal measures. The communicator in me finds most of it outrageous, while the environmentalist thinks there may be logic and hope in that direction.

    Big question of the day: why shouldn’t information technologists be information analysts?

    Biggest “no-surprise”: only six out of about fifty people responded “no” to being on Facebook or any of the social media. Three of them were at my table and identified themselves as information technologists.

    PS. Of the latter three, I’m one. That must be why I’m the only “blogger” using this lovely commenting feature on the FusedLogic site.

    PPS. Good job on the pre-recorded conference coverage so far! It plays well on my old MacBook, and audio and video are both clear.

    Barbara Allard

    http://madeinalberta.ca

  • Barb

    Tuesday revelations

    To be honest, I missed most of Day Two. I worked Edmonton’s Earth Day Festival on Sunday. Don’t think I’ve missed one since 1992. But, then I was up until 2:00 AM talking with my eighteen-year-old son about the future and planning our “strategy” for his first ever vote on Monday. Strategic voting just feels dirty, and I was frankly exhausted. I’m not as young as I used to be.

    Tuesday AM it dawned on me that I am participating in the conference in a valid way, even if not there physically, by tuning in to the web-cast and writing these comments. That is a warm, comforting thought.

    Did manage to catch: “The Future of Health Care and Medicine.” Technological singularity is not a warm, comforting thought. I was inspired when the presenter called out for us to create a vision of the future we want. I am in!

    Last conversation of the night: if we demand our leaders be perfect before we will back them up then we are doomed. Heroes remain only human, but the news media is no longer humane.

    PS. Sorry for talking all the way through the last hack-a-thon presenter. I find this topic and this group generate intense conversations that are really hard to end.

    Barb Allard

    http://madeinalberta.ca

  • Barb

    Wednesday – High points and holes

    I was there from 9:00 AM to close – body, mind, spirit. My overall impression is relief as I heard every one of my initial concerns being expressed by others as I moved through the conference panels. These comments are focused mainly on the holes in the discussions because I think that’s why I was invited to join in.

    9:00 AM Services – Smart Homes/Intelligent Communities

    Privacy concerns were reinforced about the installation of two-way communications networks between home and power utility for the purpose of leveling out the demand curve (ie. smart grid) – but not a peep about the two or three dozen surveillance cameras that captured our images as we drove, bused, cycled and walked to the physical location, let alone what happened to those getting on a plane!

    Best quote of the day: “Innovative leaders create opportunities from harsh realities.”

    10:45 AM Vision & Values – Ethics, Privacy and Quality Assurance

    It’s clear that a new profession is being born, with all the signs and the earliest stages in place. Maybe I missed the panel clearly outlining the relationships between the analyst and those researchers and technologists who come before them on the data assembly line.

    One big question: is the analytics professional an interim step to this knowledge revolution eventually displacing “the professional” altogether?

    PS. Loved the four levels of data processing: raw data, information, knowledge, wisdom!

    Noon – You can’t replace the face 2 face.

    A young lady at one of the displays taught me how to use the QR code to enter a contest on her web site. We had to download an app, and it turns out my iPhone’s camera is too out-of-date. I was reaching for the paper version of the contest form, but she suggested I stay in the e-realm and use her phone instead. At one point, I apologized for taking so long because I’m a “grammar queen”. She laughed and told me she has an unofficial campaign to teach proper English to her non-English-speaking relatives. Apparently, their main exposure to the language is electronic and so they are learning to speak not exactly English, but txtese!

    (to be continued…)

  • Barb

    Wednesday – High points and holes, cont’d.

    1:00 PM Keynote – Where’s my tripod?

    Every photographer knows that in order to clearly visualize a scene you sometimes need a tripod. Every project manager can predict outcomes by understanding the relationships between three project variables: time, quality, money. The emerging field I call “enviro-nomics” has a different set of irreducible realities known as “the 3 P’s,” and these are people, planet, profit.

    I was interested to hear that IBM’s Smarter Cities transformational model has its own tripod, which links citizen consultation to a city’s ability to innovate. Many know that decades ago Edmontonians began solving problems that most North Americans are just starting to grapple with, making us a smart, innovative city. Maybe less well known is that we have something unique here, our community league system, which provides a level of representation below the civic government. On one level, Edmonton is a mini-united-nations of uppity citizens who believe they have the right – and aren’t afraid to use the tools – to be heard by city government on issues affecting their neighbourhoods and beyond. I have always suspected these two local realities may be linked somehow.

    1:45 PM Best of the six – Environment tied with Education

    I got into my second of only two major arguments (this one with a fellow delegate). I have been advised to go along with the “global warming is a debate” line, and I will not. Yes, the energy transition is the most important thing to get a handle on, and for this you don’t need to “believe in global warming” – only CO2 reduction. But I have a sinking feeling that our society’s relationship to science is a huge predictor of the way we handle analytics.

    Couldn’t agree more: one presenter said information is best when it flows freely. Another brought up the need for more work on “the 3 P’s.”

    3:15 PM Closing keynote

    I love Edmonton’s open data service and am going to use it more! However, I’m not a believer that governments should move their citizen’s data storage or information services across borders.

    4:00 PM Resolutions

    There was a time when I thought that “Analytics, Big Data and the Cloud” was my second most preferred place to be this month – and only because the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation is in Calgary this weekend! Now I see how my life’s path brought me directly to this conference just so I can make one teeny suggestion regarding a hole in the conference resolutions (based on what I’ve written so far.)

    It’s one thing to be a sci-fi fan; it’s another to help lay a foundation stone for humanity’s real future on the galactic stage.

    Where to next?

    Okay, so I’m going to send my suggestion on the resolution to the conference organizers. Otherwise, I’m starting a short-term discussion blog with my expert group to confirm my own analyses after eight years of investigating new energy in Alberta. All going well, the next stage will include a newsletter designed for high-school students. We’re twenty years ahead of our peers in waste management, ten years into nano-technology, and advancing as leaders in interdisciplinary research. Could an Edmontonian create the first “replicator”? I really don’t see why not…

    Thank you all! Live long and prosper!

    Barb Allard

    http://madeinalberta.ca

  • Pkinkaide

    Delegates and keynotes on Wednesday debated and discussed
    5 resolutions for establishing Alberta’s Analytics Industry. Their approval
    wrapped up the Analytics, Big Data, and The Cloud Conference held at the
    Fantasyland Conference Centre in Edmonton, April 23-25th.

     

       Huge Turnout -
    Congratulations

     

    The Conference attracted 315+ registrants, 30 panels -
    769 attendees, 100′s of viewers worldwide, 30,000+ tweets, 7 keynotes, 5
    workshops, 1 hackathon, and Sponsors galour. VISIT BESTofANALYTICS.com

     

           Announcing
    the Winners

     

    Most Popular Streams (*highly rated panels)  1st – Research & Innovation*  2nd – Marketing & Management*  3rd – Health & Recreation incl Sports
    *Honorable Mention. Community & Security

     

    Most Popular Panels

     1st – The Cloud -
    “Searching for Meaning”

     2nd – Computing
    Science – “Big Data Issues & Implications”

     3rd – Retail
    Analytics – “Knowing the Customer Best”

    Honorable Mention. Media – “Monitoring, Measuring
    & Marketing”

     

    Rated The Best Panels

     1st – Retail
    Analytics – “Knowing the Customer Best”

     2nd – Vision &
    Values – “Ethics, Privacy & Quality Assurance”

     3rd – Community -
    “Security. Planning. Services.”

    Honorable Mentions. Environment – “Monitoring
    Systems” and Human Resource Management – “Recruiting &
    Planning”

     

    Start-up Edmonton’s Hackathon

     1st – Carmen
    Schwesinger

     2nd – Dario
    Iacchelli

     3rd – Jon Fung and
    Andy Chan

     

                    
    Proud Hosts

     

    ABCtech – Stuart Lomas, UofA: School of Business – Dan
    Haight, Athabasca University – George Siemens

     

             Conference
    Take Aways

     

    Global Reach. Alberta Analytics has established
    relationships with Analytics corporate leaders worldwide

     

    Connected Communities. Confidence and new networks across
    Alberta industry and academia, professions and government

     

    Discovery. Recognition of the significance of Analytics
    as a “game changer” AND the capacity of Alberta-based Analytics
    enterprises to contribute to diversifying Alberta’s economy by increasing
    productivity, improving service, reducing costs and risk through applications
    serving as aides for automated decision making.

     

    Resolve. Five resolutions approved for advancing
    Alberta’s Analytics industry addressing: marketing, manpower, purchasing and
    privacy policies, and establishing an Analytics services applications centre.

     

        Engage!
    Mobilizing Analytics

     

    Please REPLY if you want to contribute – cash, opinion or
    time, for mobilizing the Analytics resolutions.

     

      InfoTech &
    Analytics – 2000 Strong

     

    Among ABCtech’s 10,000 subscribers are over 2,000 in the
    special interest group (SIG), “InfoTech and Analytics”. ABCtech
    offers discounts on events and QuikTech Notes advertising, project and job
    postings in QuikTech Notes.

     

    See attached for the other SIGS.

    ______________________________

     

            RESERVE -
    JUNE 20th

     

    On June 20th 4:00-8:30pm ABCtech’s holds its ever-popular
    summer networking BBQ – “Twilight in the Meadows” among the berms of
    the Whitemud Equine Centre.

    ______________________________