4 things I Learnt From Big Data LDN

By Oliver Gwynne

Last week I attended Big Data LDN for the first time, looking to catch up with some of our technology partners, do a bit of networking and attend some great talks. Here’s my hot takes from the event…

People Are Sick Of Buzzwords

A conversation I heard time and time again was that people are sick of the gimmicks, sick of buzzwords and sick of hype around a certain technology. Quite a few people I spoke with were bemoaning how ‘Data Mesh’ was supposed to be the "next big thing" and of course AI must be added onto every product strapline at the moment. While there are always new and exciting things happening in the data space, the truth is that the fundamentals of best practice have not changed significantly in the last five years and often the ‘hype’ around a particular technology can feel manufactured. Most of the data people I spoke to were far more interested in making the most out of the data and tools they had today rather than chasing any trends.

Too Many Tools!

I was also a little overwhelmed with how many exhibitors there were, and their lack of variety. There are so many tools out there and on the surface they all seem to be doing the same thing, with very similar marketing, and of course everything always works great in a demo. This makes it incredibly difficult for anyone looking for a specific solution to know which is the right one to trust.

The advantage of working for an agency like 173tech is that we have a wide variety of clients all using different tools, so we really understand the practicalities around different tools, as well as the pros and the cons at different scales of business. If you are thinking of implementing a particular tool, try and talk to a few different people to get an impartial opinion (or talk to me) certainly don’t base your decision on which stand gave you the best freebie on the day!

Problems Embedding Data

I’ve not been in the data space for as many as others (my background is in marketing) but already I feel as if I’m hearing the same problems time and time again. Namely;? ROI, Stakeholder management, Democratisation. These are of course big challenges, but noticeably the one thing they have in common is that they revolve around strategy and people and perhaps most importantly, business knowledge.

“It’s easier to teach a stakeholder SQL than it is to teach a data person the business.” was a phrase in one of the seminars, and I think this rings true. I’m always surprised how often I can see a particular problem with a marketing campaign that might take a lot of digging for my data colleagues thanks to having that business experience.

Quite often data people don't understand in detail the processes and functions they are affecting and so, to my mind the solution to this particular problem is retraining and upskilling those Subject Matter Experts into data champions today.

The Future Of Data Is…Newham

Okay, so maybe I’m a little bit bias here seeing as I live in Newham borough, but I was very excited to talk with Ikramul Haque, MBA and hear their long-term plans for developing the area as a hub for data-centric companies. It makes an awful lot of sense for international businesses looking to establish a foothold in London as there’s plenty of development space, an airport nearby, and not to mention great transport links to the centre of london. The ambition is to turn Newham into the next Silicon Valley but what I liked most about the plan was the focus on bringing local people on that journey and ensuring a flow through the education system to business. I look forward to seeing the plans develop and certainly will be looking to help in any way that I can! While the team at Newham Sparks are still early in this journey, I'm sure Ikramul would be more than happy to give more information to any businesses interested.

Conclusion

Big Data LDN was packed! If anything they were somewhat oversubscribed, and hopefully next year they will move to a bigger venue like the excel centre (which by some strange coincidence is in Newham) and then I’ll be able to get into more talks.

I had a great time nonetheless, it was fantastic catching up with so many of our great technology partners, meeting a lot of new people and making some new contacts!