Written by Geoff McGimpsey, Head of Sales & Marketing at Analytics Engines
Big Data Belfast returns to the ICC Belfast on Wednesday 25th May 2022.
The conference is designed to be the ideal opportunity for both business and technology professionals to learn from and network with thought leaders about the transformative impact that data can have on their organisations.
Presented by Analytics Engines and with support from headline sponsor EY, in addition to ASOS, Daily Pay, Dell Technologies, Aflac, APEX Fintech Solutions, Allstate Northern Ireland, MCS Group, Magnite and Queen’s University Belfast, the conference will present the very latest insights into the world of data, with a variety of speakers and panel sessions across a range of topics including AI & ML, Environmental Sustainability and Governance, Digital Transformation, and Business Analytics.
This year’s conference seeks to build upon the 2019 event that saw more than 550 delegates attending, representing over 160 local and international companies. This event featured speakers from industry-leading organisations such as GitHub, Diaceutics, Dell Technologies, Reach, Allstate NI, Citi, and Liberty IT.
In recent years, the adoption of data-driven technologies has grown exponentially. Gartner predicts that by 2023, overall adoption of data analytics will increase from 35% (2021) to 50%, with much of this growth driven by vertical and domain-specific augmented analytics solutions and the commodification of data analytics technology. As a result, data and advanced analytics are increasingly becoming a core component of how modern businesses operate.
A fundamental enabler to driving high-quality data-driven insights is high-quality data. From our own perspective at Analytics Engines, we are seeing an increasing demand for solutions addressing data quality issues. A 2021 report from headline sponsor EY found that 41% of respondents deemed quality to be the most important characteristic of their data with regards to their organisation’s success. EY goes on to state that “the downstream costs caused by data quality issues (including duplicated effort, process inefficiencies, potentially wasted future spending and other opportunity costs) can be eye-watering. Some estimates put the cost of remediating a data quality error at 10 times the cost of preventing it in the first place...”
Providing insights around many of these issues and understanding how data can support business objectives lies at the core of the Big Data Belfast conference. The growth of the event speaks to the quality of the local technology ecosystem. The 2021 Tech Nation Jobs and Skills report found that 27% of all advertised roles in Belfast were Digital Tech roles, one of the highest proportional rates in the entire UK. In 2021, fDi and TNW placed Belfast at 11th (2nd in the UK) on their Tech Cities of the Future list; a list focused on finding European cities with the most promising prospects for start-ups, technology and innovation investment.
Looking ahead to this year, we’ll be welcoming speakers including Colin McFarland, Director, Experimentation Platform and Core Data Science & Engineering at Netflix; Daphne Cheung, Senior Data Analyst at Disney Plus; Edward Green, Head of Commercial Technology at McLaren Racing; and Karl Boyce, Head of Digital for UK & Ireland at McDonald’s amongst others.
A full list of announced speakers for this year’s event can be found at bigdatabelfast.com.
Tickets for Big Data Belfast 2022 are on sale now and are priced at £100+VAT.
For more information and to purchase tickets visit bigdatabelfast.com.
To purchase tickets via invoice, please contact info@analyticsengines.com.
This article first appeared in the Spring 2022 edition of the Sync NI magazine. You can download your FREE copy and sign up to receive future digital editions here.
