big data

Most likely, most of us will know, or at least have heard of blockchain technology, because of its relationship with the most popular cryptocurrency nowadays - Bitcoin. However, blockchain is not a technology born solely to sustain this new digital economy, but like many other blockchain technologies its main purpose is storing and managing data chains in a decentralized and distributed way.

Blockchain has a number of features that that will make it a useful technology in several fields of application: privacy, (quasi) anonymity, integrity, trust distribution, transparency, security, sustainability and Open Source. While it is clear that its most widespread application so far is in the field of finance, and more specifically cryptocurrencies, it can also be very useful for many other areas, both within and outside of governments, particularly everything related to personal identificationor the protection of personal data through the decentralization of privacy.

Regarding the improvement of governments, blockchain can contribute in very diverse areas such as the provision of public services, the authenticity of public registers, the management of public sector data, the fight against corruption or the guarantees in the voting processes among others. There are also dozens of examples of entrepreneurs applying this technology to innovate in such important fields such as health or agriculture.

In short, blockchain is a technology with the potential to transform our political systems and at the same time enable relevant social changes. But, as happens also with any other disruptive technology and still in the maturation phase, not all are advantages and we will also find some disadvantages and limitations to be overcome, such as scalability problems, the high computational cost and interconnection that support the operations, the environmental impact associated with that cost, the excessive centralization of each chain or the high complexity of the cryptographic processes.

On the other hand, even though blockchain has quickly become a trendy technology  and despite the apparent simplicity of the underlying concept, it remains at the same time one of the most cryptic and misunderstood technologies as regards its potential beneficiaries. Therefore, in order for these decentralized data management technologies to become popular in the near future, it will also be necessary to face another type of entry barriers of a more structural nature related to the need for more training, an improvement in usability, greater capacity for institutional adaptation or the development of the necessary regulatory changes to support it.

The adoption of innovative technologies could bring great competitive advantages for companies, optimizing processes, improving the customer experience and even creating new products and services. Therefore, an increasing number of organizations demand professionals with knowledge in areas such as data analytics, business intelligence or Deep Learning, but where can we find qualified personnel who can lead and execute these initiatives?

According to a report elaboreted by the consulting firm B-Talent, 87% of surveyed companies think that there is a lack of qualified personnel to implement digital transformation in Spain. In the specific case of Big Data, we have already written about the lack of talent, highlighted in Generación de talento Big Data en España report: on 2015 the number of vacancies for Big Data professionals grew by 93%, but there were only seven candidates, on average, per vacancy. In addition, the situation is expected to get worse. In the next two or three years (2020-2021), Big Data analyst will be the most difficult position to fill in Spain.

The fact that there is no personnel prepared to face the new professional challenges is due, among other reasons, to the scarcity of educational offer. As COTEC indicated in the report, education is the main pillar to generate talent. Therefore, in order to avoid steps that could inflame the situation, it is necessary to adapt academic programs, so the new generations would have the required training in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, known as STEM.

Universities and schools are trying to quickly update their offer to face this situation. In our country, training related to new technologies is beginning to emerge, such as the Degree in Science and Data Engineering of Carlos III University of Madrid or the Master in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Barcelona. But the lack of specialized teachers, as well as documentation related to these subjects, hinders the creation of new courses.

MOOC, the alternative to traditional training

In this context, MOOC courses (Massive Online Open Courses) are positioned as a good academic alternative for those professionals who want to acquire or improve their skills. A MOOC is an online course that allow free and unlimited access to content.

Usually accessible from mobile devices, tablets and computers, MOOCs allow a personalized and flexible training through a mix of different specialized courses. The wide offer includes different duration courses, both for beginners and experts who want to delve a little deeper into their abilities.

Two types of platforms can be differentiated: those belonging to academic centers, with their own digital training offer, such as HarvardX, and general-purpose platforms, with agreements with different university centers, foundations and companies, such as edX, Coursera or Udacity. The objective of these platforms is to democratize access to quality training for free or at competitive prices.

The main characteristics of each of these platforms are described below:

• Coursera

Founded in 2011 by Stanford academics, Coursera offers more than 2,000 general programs, more than 180 specializations and 4 online degrees, all of them focused on business, computer science and data science, through nearly 150 partner universities. Those courses include video lectures previously recorded with subtitles in more than 30 languages, real business cases projects, self-assessments and community discussion forums. A strength point is the academic and technical support by dedicated community of course mentors and the knowledgeable learner support team.

• EDX

EDX was created in 2012, thanks to Harvard University and MIT collaboration, as a non-profit organization based on open standards. EDX offers almost 2,000 courses in IT, languages, engineering, psychology, writing, electronics, biology or marketing, with specialties in Data Science or Deep Learning. They highlights MicroMasters programs, offered by prestigious universities and recognized by relevant companies such as IBM or Volvo.

• Udacity

Founded in 2012 by professionals previously linked to universities such as Stanford and companies like Google, it has eight million students worldwide. Udacity offers value training through free courses and its Nanodegree program: small masters oriented to avant-garde skills that have been designed together with leading companies in global innovation, such as Google, IBM, Facebook or Amazon. Udacity even has a Nanodegree Plus program, which guarantees a job (if a student does not get a job after six months after, the registration fee is refunded). Among its courses, there is a Data Science, Analytics or Virtual Reality Offer.

These are just three examples of the possibilities offered by this type of training platform, but there are more - some examples are included in the aforementioned report. Among other factors such as flexibility, its success is due to the fact that they can provide deeper specialization, difficult to find nowadays in other scenarios.

Even when universities and study centers expand their offer in data analysis and innovation technology, this kind of courses will not disappear: they just will be part of those new plans or an alternative to complete knowledge through micro-courses, accessible from any corner of the planet.

New technologies are changing the world we live in. The society changes, the economy changes, and with that, the jobs change. The implementation of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data or Internet of Things are driving the demand for new professional profiles that we did not even conceive a decade ago. In addition, the possibilities of automating tasks currently developed by humans, executing task more quickly and efficiently, leads some professionals to consider that their job could be in danger. Responding to this situation is one of the big challenges we have to overcome.

According to the report It's learning. Just not as we know. How to accelerate skills acquisition in the age of intelligent technologies, carried out by G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance and Accenture, if skill-building doesn’t catch up with the rate of technological progress, the G20 economies could lose up to US$11.5 trillion in cumulative GDP growth in the next ten years.

But this change is not simple. It is not correct just to assume that intelligent technologies will eliminate some jobs and create new ones. In fact, the biggest effect will be the evolution of traditional roles. According to the study, 90% of each worker time will be affected by new technologies. Taking the average of all sectors, 38% of worker time is currently dedicated to tasks that will be automated, while 51% are activities that can be improved (or augmented), using new technologies that help to increase our skills. In short, the solution is not just to train more engineers or data analysts, since even these profiles will have to evolve to adapt to a future that is closer than it seems.

To know how this change will affect the different professional profiles, the report analyse the tasks and skills necessary to carry out the current work positions, determining how they will evolve in the future. To facilitate the analysis, the professions have been grouped around 10 different roles. The following table shows the result of the study:

The results show how some skills, such as administrative management, will decline in importance. However, for almost every single role described in the previous table, a combination of complex reasoning, creativity, socio-emotional intelligence and sensory perception skills will be necessary.

The problem is that these types of skills are acquired with experience. The current education and learning systems, both regulated and corporate, are not designed to address this revolution, so it will be also necessary their evolution. To facilitate this transition, the report provides a series of recommendations:

• Speed up experiential learning: Teaching has traditionally been based on a passive model, consisting of absorbing knowledge by listening or reading. However, experiential learning becomes more and more powerful, that is, through the practical application of knowledge. This would be the case of airplane pilots, who learn through flight simulation programs. New technologies, such as augmented reality or artificial intelligence, help to make these solutions based on experience more personalized and accessible, covering a greater number of sectors and job positions.
• Shift focus from institutions to individuals: Inside a work team it is common to found workers with different capacities and abilities, in such a way that they complement each other, but, as we have seen, it is also necessary to put more emphasis on expanding the variety of skills of each individual worker, including new skills such as creativity and socio-emotional intelligence. The current system does not drive the learning of these subjects, so it is necessary to design metrics and incentives that encourage the mix of skills in each person.
• Empower vulnerable learners: Learning must be accessible to all employees, in order to close the current skills gap. According to the study, in general, the most vulnerable workers to technological change are the least qualified, because their jobs tend to be easier to automate. However, they also tend to receive the least training from the company, something that must change. Other groups to pay attention to are the older workers and those from small companies, with fewer resources. An increasing number of companies are using modular and free MOOC courses to facilitate the equal acquisition of skills among the entire workforce. In addition, some governments, such as France or Singapore, are providing training aids.

In short, we are in a moment of change. It is necessary to stop and reflect on how our work environment will change in order to adapt ourselves to it, acquiring new skills that provide us with competitive advantages in our professional future.

Teralco Big Analytics is an analytical consulting company, specialized in extensive data analysis using predictive and prescriptive techniques. They focus on discovering their customers' data universe and transforming it with intelligent technology: they process and analyze the information, providing real value for decision-making and digital transformation in companies.

They began in the world of business intelligence in 2006 to respond to market demands and offer innovative technological solutions. With great experience in Big Data consulting and analytical consulting, they are firmly committed to R&D&I, and the use of tools to guarantee the quality of the technological development of each of the project life cycle processes.

Vizzuality use geospatial and big data to create digital products designed to empower people to make the right decisions and enable and encourage positive changes.
They work, together with NGOs, governments, corporations and citizens on challenges concerning the climate emergency, the global loss of biodiversity, supply-chain transparency and inequality.

A company dedicated to business and technology information for companies. Its main mission is to help companies around the world, with advanced analytics solutions and data integration tools, to identify business opportunities and potential risks of non-payment through business information, predictive models and propensity to buy; so that the areas of finance, risk, marketing, sales, purchasing and logistics can identify opportunities and potential risks of non-payment through business information, predictive models and propensity to buy; so that the areas of finance, risk, marketing, sales, purchasing and logistics can identify opportunities and potential risks of non-payment:

1. Find new and good customers.
2. Analyse the financial health of companies.
3. Minimise the risk of non-payment of commercial transactions.

Iberinform is a subsidiary of Crédito y Caución, a global credit insurance operator with a presence in more than 50 countries.

dotGIS is focused on the development of solutions and applications related to the management, integration and analysis of data with geospatial component.

portalestadistico.com integrates and disseminates official statistics from multiple sources for each of the territories that make up Spain. The offer interactive dashboards and visual data analysis tools, thus promoting the reuse of public information and multiplying data possibilities.

In short, they help local administrations to be more efficient and transparent by disseminating open intelligent data related to their territories.

A new year begins and it is time to write down all those appointments that we want to attend during the next 12 months. There are all-kind event: large international events, contests and hackathons, workshops... all designed for data and new technologies lovers that want to be aware of new trends and challenges related to these areas.

As in previous years, our country will host several big events. Barcelona will be the world technology headquarter with 3 unavoidable appointments: Mobile World Congress (February, 25-28), IOT Solutions World Congress (October, 29-31) and SmartCity Expo (November, 19-21). Data have a fundamental role in all these technologies: Smartphones, IoT devices or smart cities sensors generate a huge volume of information, whose analysis is critical for decision-making. Therefore, it is not surprising that we find spaces dedicated to data management or analytics in each of these events. For example, at the Mobile World Congress, datathons and conferences focused on how to drive a data-driven future will be held. The agendas of IOT Solutions World Congress and SmartCity Expo are not yet available, but we do not doubt that both will remain along the same lines as last year.

Madrid, meanwhile, will host the Digital Enterprise Show, known as DES (May, 21-23) or the South summit (October, 2-4), which last year edition brought together more than 100 start-ups wanting to innovate. Also in Madrid will be the Open Expo Europe (June, 6), a professional fair on Open Source, Free Software and Open World Economy (Open Data and Open Innovation), and T3chFest 2019 (March, 14-15), a computer and new technologies fair held at the Carlos III University where, among other issues, speakers will talk about data science, developments and open formats.

Other appointments to consider are Greencities (March, 27-28 in Malaga), focused on urban intelligence and sustainability, and Alldata 2019 (March, 24-28 in Valencia), an international conference on Big Data, Small Data, Linked Data and Open Data.

The good moment of the open data is also evident in the large number of contests and hackathons that are expected during the next months. The registration period for the Open Data Competition of Castilla y León is currently open.

In addition, the Data Journalism workshop, organized by Medialab Prado, will be held from March 25 to 29. Under the title, “follow the food”, the workshop will focus on the food and its relationship with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The call for projects was closed last January 9, and now is time for those who want to participate to sign up as collaborators.

Another workshop, related to Open Data Management, will be held in the city of Burgos on February 13. It will address the legal and ethical framework of open data and the tools to make research data accessible, among other issues

In addition to these examples, new appointments and events related to data world will be released during the year. For example, there will be a new edition of Aporta Meeting. And do not forget that next March 2 is the Open Data Day, a framework made up of various activities that will gradually be published on its website.

From datos.gob.es we will inform you of all these news, so you do not miss any appointment.

The next 26th and 27th of November DATADRI is celebrated in Córdoba. It is a reference event for the digital transformation of agricultural sector. During two days, the challenges and opportunities of the sector will be addressed, paying special attention to the competitive advantages that new technologies and data analysis can bring.

Junta de Andalucía, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, among many other organizations and companies, collaborate with the event. You can see the entire list of sponsors and contributors here.

What is the purpose of the event?

The event responds to three objectives:

• Promote digital transformation in agri-food chain.
• Sensitize about success cases.
• Contribute to reduce barriers to digital transformation implementation, creating best practices standards and opportunities for collaboration.

What is the agenda?

DATAGRI is made up of two sessions, the Forum Day, which will be held on November 26, and the Farming Day, which will take place on the next day.

The Forum Day will be integrated by different key note and round tables, with the participation of farmers, technology companies, representatives of public administration and experts who will share their vision and experience, with special focus on new trends. Among other technologies, they will talk about robotics, Internet of Things or drones, and how its application can help boost a more sustainable and efficient agri-food sector. The session will end with a debate, entitled "Who has to lead the digital transformation in the sector?".

For its part, the Farming Day will be integrated by two workspaces. On the one hand, a working space called "Operative Groups as a driver for the digitization of the sector" followed by the "Digital Agenda workday for the agri-food sector and the rural environment" (invitation will be necessary to attend this session).

In parallel, attendees could enjoy a series of demonstrations and exhibitions, to discover first-hand how the latest technologies can boost their business and improve their competitiveness.

What do I have to do to attend?

Those interested in attending the event must pre-register at the following link.