Big Data, deep learning, neural networks. Blimey, now I'm confused!

Yesterday I went to the BI-Podium Event 'De achterkant van Big Data' in Amersfoort.
A great event with fascinating presentations about big data, technology and even ethics.

Many Dutch companies in data science like Big Data Lab, Xomnia and Many2More were present.
Also a great endnote by Donna Burbank, which was a great boost for starting data scientists.
Awesome to see there are a lot of Dutch Big Data enthousiasts and there was enough time for networking.
Thank you Visser & Van baars Recruitment for this opportunity.

As a data scientist with a bio-informatics and software testing (also lots of analysis) background I was able to follow the presentations.
A lot of terms were not new for me, but is that also true for my fellow SaaS enthusiasts from my TestingSaaS-community?
I  already wondered why big data terms like deep learning, neural networks, machine learning etc.are mostly explained from a marketing (too easy) or development (too technical) viewpoint?
Luckiliy, this was not the case at this BI-Podium Event.

So, I got the idea for a blog series on explaining these big data terms in a straight forward way without the marketing and technical phrases.
This way I want to help new big data enthusiasts not too get scared of all these terms, but give them a starting point to explore this new sexy discipline data science.

That's why I founded TestingSaaS, to explain the world of SaaS in a straightforward way.

Stay tuned for my blog series on Big Data as-it-is!

Roaring with the Vikings

I plan to go every year on an adventure combined with a IT conference.

In 2010 I went to Belgium for EEMA and Colorado for the Cloud Identity Summit.

 2011 was the time for the Internet Identity WorkShop in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

2012 was a year without conferences, but my trip to the Panama Canal got me interested in logistics.

And voila where do I work in 2013: Eyefreight, a kick-ass transport management software company with big multinational customers.

But that does not mean 2013 is only logistics for me.

Nope, this year Big Data caught my attention. And when looking for other enthusiasts I got in contact with a Danish daredevil named Morten Middelfart.

He is CTO of Targit, also a kick-ass company, specialized in business Intelligence solutions.

And when I heard they were giving a conference  in Copenhagen in September I knew it was time again to pack my bags: Four days Copenhagen: three days sightseeing and one day conference, mixing business with pleasure, Viking style!

And it did not disappoint me: Copenhagen is a vibrant capitol, with great history and amazing buildings.

The Conference was a combination of showing the new target product: the Targit 2013 Decision suite (link) and the new trends in IT like big data and analytics.

In the morning it started with some great keynotes (guarded by Lenny the Lion) and in the afternoon it was time for the parallel sessions where visitors could listen to people of their interest.

Oh, and did I tell you the King of KPIs, David Parmenter was invited as a keynote speaker?

By demystifying KPI he taught me valuable lessons in Business Performance, and all just in a few hours. Well, his books and recommendations are now on my wishlist and I am eager to see if I can use it in my daily work. 

The other parallel presentations taught me a lot about Social Analytics, airport logistics and the target products, valuable insights!

Then a few hours off (except for a lucky lady who went for a skydive with Morten).

Seven o'clock it was time for drinks and a good dinnerbuffet where the King of KPI entertained us with a story about Shackleton who did not succeed in reaching his goal but still learned us an important leadership lesson.

The evening ended with Kate Perry ‘roaring’her latest song , a recording of the skydive and a breathtaking show by the Copenhagen Drummers.

And then when I thought it was all over my friend Morten came to me and he said he had to do something he promised me some time ago: drinking a beer together. 

So, it was a good day Dr. Morten and I met new friends and new opportunities are in the horizon.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to roar with the Vikings: AWESOME!!!