National Grid Seminar Series: The Rise of Big Data Spurs a Revolution in Big Analytics Powered by Cloud Computing

Abstract

The enormous growth in the amount of data that the global economy now generates has been well documented, but the magnitude of its potential impact to drive competitive advantage has not. It is my hope that this briefing urges all stakeholders– executives who must fund analytics initiatives, IT teams that support them and data scientists, who uncover and communicate meaningful insight – to go boldly in the direction of “Big Analytics”.

Clearly, we have an abundance of data. But what makes this a genuinely
revolutionary moment is that thanks to Moore’s Law we also have the computing power and the ability to store, retrieve, and analyze such data, all at an affordable price. Recent innovations have had the combined effect of providing commodity multi-core processors and distributed computing frameworks that allow software such as R to exploit this new generation of infrastructure known as Cloud
Computing.

This opportunity is enormous and without precedent. The dawn of the “Big Data Revolution” brings us to a turning point and unique moment in the history of data analysis that eclipses the traditions of the past. This revolution is neither theoretical nor trivial and represents a genuine leap forward and a clear opportunity to realize enormous gains in efficiency, productivity, revenue, and profitability. The Age of BigAnalytics with the help of Cloud Computing is here.

About the Speaker

Jeff Erhardt is an executive with extensive and diverse experience at Fortune 400 companies in technology,operations, finance, strategy, and M&A. He began his career at Advanced Micro Devices where he was responsible for the development and commercialization of leading-edge semiconductor devices, eventually authoring more than 30 United States patents. In this capacity, Erhardt was an expert user of numerous statistics and analytics tools—including R— and directed the creation of an innovative, fully-integrated analysis infrastructure to accelerate the development and introduction of new semiconductor technologies. Most recently, Erhardt played a central role in the multi-billion dollar restructuring of Spansion, where he advised on operational and performance improvements as well as structured, negotiated, and led numerous multinational transactions. Erhardt graduated with a B.S. in Engineering Cum Laude, from Cornell University and an M.B.A. with honours from The Wharton School.

This seminar series is organized by the National Grid Office.

Attendance is free of charge. All are welcome.

Please find here the presentation slides