Separating the wheat from the chaff in an age of bots and trolls

In the age of ubiquitous connectivity and social media, information is at our fingertips. Unfortunately, so is misinformation and often it is hard to tell one from the other.

A recent roundtable discussion sponsored by the South Big Data Hub examined the rapidly changing landscape for building online communities, sharing information, and creating what often appears to be a groundswell of support for particular points of view. Read more…

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First Southern Data Science Conference comes to Atlanta April 7


Register now at www.southerndatascience.com

The data science community and members of the South Big Data Hub should mark their calendars for the very first Southern Data Science Conference, to be held on April 7 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Perimeter at Villa Christina. The conference is expected to attract data science thought leaders from around the southeast and the nation and will feature speakers from innovative companies and research laboratories, such as Google, Microsoft, AT&T, NASA, Glassdoor and Groupon. Read more…

IBM exec offers tips for thriving in the digital data storm

Cognitive thinking is the key to surviving and thriving in the perfect storm of modern technology, according to IBM’s Mac Devine, who presented a National Consortium for Data Science (NCDS) DataBytes Webinar in December.

Devine, vice president and CTO of emerging technology and advanced innovation, IBM Cloud Division, said that our interconnected world composed of big data, the Internet of Things and the cloud, has created a tidal wave of data that is too large to handle using traditional methods of managing information. Cognitive thinking, or using high-level technology to comb through large sets of data with a human mindset, is one strategy for coping with what he termed a “perfect digital storm.”

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Webinar to discuss smart and connected cities

smart cities imageThe explosion of digital data means changes in how we work, play, and interact with each other and with the technologies and devices we depend on. Nowhere is that change more apparent than in the than in movement to create smart and interconnected cities.

What started as an effort to integrate multiple information and communication technologies with sensors that collect data about transportation systems, power plant usage, water supply networks, and more has evolved into a transformation of urban environments using a data infrastructure that can monitor events, troubleshoot problems, and enable a better quality of life.

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DataBridge tackles the problem of ‘dark data’

DataBridge-Logo-Final copyDataBridge, a National Science Foundation-funded project to make research data more discoverable and usable by a wide community of scientists, has the green light to expand its work into the neuroscience community, thanks to a new NSF EAGER award.

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Leading the charge in biomedical visualization

amia-logo-nobgBiomedical informatics is one of the hottest data science research fields, with scientists publishing hundreds of research papers every year that could impact how patients and doctors access and interact with medical information and the effectiveness of medical treatments.

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Why Data Commons? Because scientists want to focus on science, not infrastructure

ESIP

ESIP meeting participants discuss the challenges of a Data Commons at their recent summer meeting in Durham, NC.

After more than 25 years as a science communicator, I’ve come to recognize the things that all scientists, regardless of their disciplines, yearn for. It’s not an endless stream of funding or appreciation from the public for their work (although both would be nice). Read more…

Introducing the Women of RENCI

As Women’s History Month draws to a close, RENCI acknowledges the daily hard work of each of its female employees. The research strides occurring at RENCI would not be possible without our female researchers, project coordinators, administrators, and communicators.

From left to right: Asia Mieczkowska, Jennifer Resnick, Claris Castillo, Hong Yi, Lea Shanley, Caryn Best, Lisa Stillwell, Margaret Wesley, Kristi Andrews, Laura Capps Hill, Rebekah Sturgess, Karen Green, Dawn Carsey, Annie Goessling, and Stephanie Suber

From left to right: Asia Mieczkowska, Jennifer Resnick, Claris Castillo, Hong Yi, Lea Shanley, Caryn Best, Lisa Stillwell, Margaret Wesley, Kristi Andrews, Laura Capps Hill, Rebekah Sturgess, Karen Green, Dawn Carsey, Annie Goessling, and Stephanie Suber

Recently, the RENCI communications team rounded up as many “Women of RENCI” as possible for a group photo and to learn more about how they contribute to the organization. The list below (and the photo) summarize the information gathered on that day. Read more…

RENCI CTO speaks to high school students on the future of computer science

The next generation of potential computer scientists are making their way to K-12 classrooms each day, but are these young minds being exposed to the fundamentals of computer science? According to Code.org, only one in four American high schools offer computer science courses, and few of those schools allow the course to count toward graduation.

To counteract these statistics, some computer scientists are working harder to share their knowledge and experiences from the field. RENCI’s Director of Informatics and Chief Technology Officer Charles Schmitt, PhD, joined the cause recently when he visited the North Carolina School of Science and Math (NCSSM) to speak to a group of students about computer science.   Read more…

Research Triangle Analysts at RENCI: Topological Data Analysis

Research Triangle Analysts met at RENCI for their first monthly meeting of the new year on January 19. Research Triangle Analysts meet at RENCI every third month and elsewhere around the Triangle during other months. The group, a 501(c)(3) non-profit and all-volunteer organization, promotes the advancement of data science throughout the Triangle’s collaborative communities of analysts, mathematicians, statisticians, and scientists.

Research Triangle Analysts participants learn about topological data analysis at RENCI.

Research Triangle Analysts participants learn about topological data analysis at RENCI.

Hamza Ghadyali, a PhD candidate in mathematics at Duke University, featured as the speaker for the meeting. Ghadyali develops new topological data analysts (TDA) tools, particularly for the analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) data. Topology is the mathematical study of shape. TDA tools analyze large, noisy, complex datasets from disciplines such as, but not limited to, oncology, astronomy, meteorology, and neuroscience. Analysis of the shapes and changes in shape represented by data yield information about the data.  Read more…