Strata Conference Blog

posted via Alistair Croll | @acroll

Strata's just around the corner, and it's lining up to be an industry-defining event for technology and business. There's tons to be excited about, from great speakers to eye-opening content.

As we get ready for next week, here are some of the reasons I'm really looking forward to the conference.

• Big Data is the new oil: In an information society, where we generate huge volumes of information, data is a resource to be mined and refined. Look around you: nearly everything you see was ordered, made, and delivered using oil. But it was also designed, sold, bought, and organized with data. Every generation of humans thinks it's living in unprecedented times -- and by definition, it is. But we're here at the moment that society switched from atoms to bits. And that's what Strata's about.
• Whoever owns the means of analysis wins: If data is the new oil, then those that can turn it into finished products - meaning, insight, and ultimately, advantage - win. It's not who owns the data, it's who can put it to work. At Strata, we'll be looking at the machinery behind big data, from new algorithms to powerful platforms to intuitive visualizations.
• You can predict the future: In large enough numbers, we're a surprisingly predictable species. Now that much of our lives is lived in the open, shared and available for analysis, computers may well be able to anticipate the future. At Strata, companies like Palantir and Recorded Future will be talking about how they help us anticipate everything from markets to catastrophes.
• Learning how to bend time: Post-SQL technologies like Cassandra, Hadoop, and Mapreduce split a task into thousands of parallel tasks, completing them in seconds rather than days. These Big Data frameworks make it possible to get results long before your competitors, giving your organization the edge -- whether you're a newspaper trying to analyze information quickly, or a retailer hoping to discern patterns in consumer behavior.
• Your competitors are already winning: At Strata, we have dozens of real-world examples from healthcare, government, finance, astronomy, energy, travel, and more. Big Data, Ubicomp, and new interfaces are already redefining entire industries, and Strata's the place to learn first-hand how the industrialization of information will change your organization and your life.
• Seek to be understood: Data doesn't mean anything if it doesn't produce results. Kim Rees of award-winning design firm Periscopic will show us how economy of design leads to better communication and the results you want.
• Late-night deep dives: We had so much great content to fit into the event, we added a block of deep-dive evening sessions from practitioners who will focus on a specific stack or set of technologies. In many cases, the presentations are straight from the horse's mouth -- that is, the creator and core team behind the technologies that are changing how we crunch and consume information.
• Immersive reality makes you smarter: There's a lot of data out there. Fortunately, the human mind is amazingly good at discerning patterns within data, if we give it the right tools. Dr. Creve Maples, an early inventor of immersive systems for visualization and understanding, will take us on a wild ride through virtual reality and synthetic environments, showing how it helps humans grasp complex data without overloading.

Strata is on track to be a sold out event. This is your last chance to secure your seat and take control of the Big Data opportunity. Looking forward to seeing you in Santa Clara next week!

We're tackling big topics at Strata, but none bigger than data ownership

posted via Alistair Croll | @acroll

If we live in an information age, then whoever owns the information wins. But information wants to be free: when I share a phone number, it becomes more valuable, not less so. The Wikileaks controversy has pushed data ownership to the front of public discourse: to whom do the cables belong? What liabilities do journalists, students, or government employees incur by looking at them? And where does international law stand on open information?

At Strata, insiders on all sides of the debate will be discussing issues of data privacy, governance, and data ownership. Data is the fuel of the next decade of commerce, but we're only now deciding who can use that fuel, what they can charge for it, and how it's controlled

Speakers who will be discussing data ownership at Strata include:

Dylan Field Brown University	Pete Forde BuzzData	Simon Rogers Guardian	Jud Valeski Gnip	Pete Soderling Stratus Security

Strata's Case Studies Show How Today's Tech Leaders Rode Big Data to Market Success

posted via Alistair Croll | @acroll

A decade ago, Google's PageRank algorithm transformed the face of the web, moving us from directories to relevance. Today, dozens of tech leaders are finding that Big Data is the key to their success. By processing masses of information on users, prices, traffic patterns, and trends, they're able to get ahead of the competition. How you bend data to your will is the difference between a failed startup and a breakout success.

Strata's case study track highlights the ways that innovators in a wide range of industries are putting data to work and giving their companies a competitive edge. In-depth tutorials will show you how you can put data to work in your organization.

Speakers who are presenting case studies you won't want to miss include:

Hilary Mason bit.ly	Bradford Cross Flightcaster	Margaret Francis Lithium	DJ Patil LinkedIn

NOTE: Call for participants for the Strata Tweet This contest is now closed

Not a blogger and you don't have a web site to post a banner to, but you love Twitter? For those of you who are passionate and prolific users of Twitter, we now have a way for you too to earn yourself a free full conference pass to Strata in February Read on and come play our Strata "Tweet This" contest.

Here's how it works:

• We give you a pre-written tweet - “Use discount code [FAKE] for 25% off a Strata conference pass—discount ends January 26! #strataconf”
• Tweet this sentence to enough of your friends, and you could earn a deeply discounted or free full-price Strata conference pass.
• If five people buy a conference pass (Conference Only, Conference Plus Tutorials, or All Access Pass) using your personalized discount code (which we will send you—read on), we'll give you a free full conference pass of your own. (If you fall short of the five registrations, we'll still send you a healthy discount, based on how many did register with your code).

Note: The discount code above—[FAKE]—does not work. It’s just an example. You’ll replace [FAKE] with the dedicated code we provide you. Read on…)

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The Strata program and speaker list has filled out nicely over the past few weeks. If you haven't taken the time to peruse the Strata Conference site here, be sure to take a moment to wrap your head around the amazing lineup of speakers we've confirmed, the data-rich and bottom line relevant tutorials and sessions, our Executive Summit, and the extra credit data conversations going on over on O'Reilly Radar. We also have a bunch of killer evening activities in the works to round out your Strata experience.

Sound great? We think so too, and want to make it easier on your pocketbook to attend in February. So here's the deal - since this is new conference and new territory for us, we're offering some incentives if you help us promote the conference in one of these ways:

Place a Strata Banner Ad

If you place any Strata banner as a (somewhat) permanent (through end of January) addition to your web site, blog, etc., we'll send you a code for 25% off your Strata registration, PLUS a code for a free ebook download of your choice from oreilly.com.

If you're willing to promote Strata, but are a little hesitant to give fixed space on your site, you can still save! Drop a banner into a blog post and we'll still send you the 25% off code by itself.

Jaimey Walking Bear likes

O'Reilly Strata Conference

Create your Like Badge

Place a Strata Facebook Badge

You can also score the 25% off savings plus free ebook of your choice if you place a Facebook Like badge - promoting the Strata fan page - on your site or blog. First, make sure you're a Strata fan yourself, then visit the Like Badges page and create one for Strata. Voila! Facebook gives you the embed code to place your Like badge.

Once you've posted the banner or Facebook badge, email me at promote@strataconf.com and I'll send you your code(s). Please use the subject line "Strata Banner (or Facebook Badge) is up

Blog Your Way to a Strata Pass

If you're an active, enthusiastic, prolific blogger, you can also score a free Full Conference Pass for Strata:

• Contact me at promote@strataconf.com and let me know you're interested in blogging for a free pass. Please use the subject line "Blog My Way to a Strata Pass".
• We'll send you a unique discount code to post to your blog. Post early and often.
• If five people register for either a Conference Only or Conference Plus Tutorials package, we'll give you a free Strata full conference pass.

Thanks in advance!
Jaimey

Time's running out to propose a session for O'Reilly Strata. Head over to the call for proposals and enter your submission now.

Strata will be the defining event for the revolution in data and analytics, bringing together people and technology that turn data into decision.

We're looking for practical and inspiring stories from technology, business and research, covering data, analytics, visualization and more.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• Distributed data processing, Hadoop ecosystem
• From research to product
• Real-time data processing and analytics
• Becoming a data-driven organization
• Data science best practice
• Data acquisition, crowdsourcing, cleaning, distribution and markets
• Machine learning
• Training and recruitment of data scientists
• Applications, case studies, and cautionary tales
• Visualization and design principles
• Augmented reality and immersive interfaces
• Data protection, privacy, and policy
• Changing role of business intelligence

 Submit your proposal now.

An article by Doug Henschen in August's InformationWeek describes well the changes facing the world of data warehousing in the enterprise.

"Two forces define this era: size and speed. And those forces are driving companies to consider new choices for how they deal with data."

The full article, available as a PDF, surveys the development of software and hardware, highlighting trends such as:

• In-database analytics
• Hadoop and NoSQL
• MPP offerings of Oracle, IBM and Microsoft
• SAS and Teradata
• In-memory analysis and SSD

Read More

We're in the midst of an industrial revolution of data, the result of new data processing technologies, ubiquitous computing, and next-generation interfaces. We can mine petabytes of information, filter millions of messages, and link disparate databases in the blink of an eye. We're harvesting billions of mouse clicks, credit card swipes, and GPS coordinates. The resulting data is available to companies, governments, and citizens.

But these massive, open data sets are just the beginning. With ubiquitous computing, they're available to anyone, anywhere. And modern, immersive, interactive interfaces — from touchscreens to 3D worlds to augmented reality — make them immediately accessible. We're transforming the very fabric of human knowledge: how we learn, play, work, and love.

Tomorrow's world will be a layered one, where we augment our every thought with context, skimming over data and diving deep into knowledge. We'll immerse ourselves in the strata of our lives, and we'll never be the same.

Read More