More Virtuous Examination of the Big Data Construct: TechAmerica Foundation Announces Leadership for “Big Data” Commission

We recently wrote about TechAmerica and their activities related to Big Data in the Public Sector. A Big Data Task Force in TechAmerica’s public sector group has kicked off a collaborative activity in a Big Data Task Force.

There has been a new development in domain. The foundation arm of TechAmerica, which is the group focused on studies and assessments and educational outreach, has established a Big Data Commission. This group is closely aligned with the current public sector task force, and will result in more strategic inputs to the federal community. In my opinion this is a very positive development.

Members of this commission contain many friends and associates and people I hold in the highest regard, including long term co-worker and comrade from government service Nick Combs, who has spent a career architecting some of the most incredible Big Data solutions humanity has created. The very highly regarded Mike Olson of Cloudera is also a Commissioner. Mike has a real knack for being able to express concepts in very memorable and understandable ways, and that talent is especially important in this Big Data field. His firm, Cloudera, is a key contributor to the framework of software Apache Hadoop (which may be the most important software of the decade- stand by for more from me on why I think that). The Commission Leadership includes Teresa Carlson, the leader of Amazon’s public sector efforts and Bill Perlowitz, CTO of WYLE (Bill is also leading the Big Data public sector task force for TechAmerica).

I look forward to reading the outcome of this study and will report conclusions here as soon as they are made public.

For more see the press release below:

TechAmerica Foundation Announces Leadership for “Big Data” Commission

Will Lead Group of 22 Industry Experts and Academics

Washington, DC – The TechAmerica Foundation announced today that some of the foremost thinkers in “Big Data” will lead a commission of 22 experts and academics to examine the issue and provide guidance on how to leverage “Big Data” to address the most pressing issues facing government as well as drive U.S. innovation and competitiveness.

Chairing the commission will be Steve Mills, Senior Vice President and Group Executive at IBM and Steve Lucas, Global Executive Vice President and General Manager, Database & Technology at SAP. Serving as vice chairs of the commission are Teresa Carlson, Vice President Global Public Sector, Amazon Web Services and Bill Perlowitz, Chief Technology Officer, Science, Technology and Engineering Group, Wyle.

“The problem today is not gathering data, but rather making intelligent actionable decisions based on the volume, velocity and variety of data we are receiving. I am excited about launching this Commission and hope that we can leverage the best and brightest industry, academic and government minds to determine how to use big data to drive innovation, efficiencies and effectiveness in the public sector,” said Jennifer Kerber, President of the TechAmerica Foundation.

Big Data is a hot topic for the technology community and is becoming a focal point for government with the Administration recently announcing a $200 Million Big Data Research and Development Initiative.

“We are entering a new era of computing where information is growing at a record pace. The winners and losers will be those who can innovate faster based on strategic insights drawn from the variety and velocity of new forms of big data being generated every day,” said Steve Mills. ”By gaining deeper insights into this vast new natural resource, the opportunities to accelerate the pace of discovery in science and engineering and develop information-intensive curriculum is unlimited.”

“The world’s data is doubling every 18 months, presenting government and industry with new opportunities to transform information into insight,” said Steve Lucas. “New database technologies and applications, coupled with real time analysis of big data, will help business and government run better and ultimately improve the well-being of customers and citizens. By bringing private sector innovation to the public sector, the Big Data Commission will help leaders address some of the biggest questions facing government today.”

The Commission expects to also take up such issues as: what capabilities are required to succeed? How do you use Big Data to make intelligent decisions? How will agencies effectively govern and secure huge volumes of information, while protecting privacy and civil liberties? And perhaps most importantly, how do we use big data to transform how the government delivers services.

“The federal government is under increasing pressure to innovate and do more with less,” said Teresa Carlson. “The U.S federal government has been among the most forward leaning in taking advantage of the benefits of the cloud and Big Data. We’re pleased to be a part of TechAmerica Foundation’s Commission to further advance the work the federal government is doing on behalf of U.S citizens.”

“Big Data has the potential to increase efficiency, improve the speed and accuracy of decisions, forecast the future, identify savings, increase transparency, create jobs, and provide insight into our agencies and citizenry; this is a hugely disruptive force occurring during challenging economic times. To transform hindsight to insight and remain competitive, we must immediately address the technical, cultural, organizational, and policy challenges data poses and embrace the relentless increase in available data,” said Bill Perlowitz.

The commission membership is made up of leading experts on big data and represent both industry and academia – the full list of members can be found here.

To learn more about the TechAmerica Foundation’s Big Data Commission: http://www.techamericafoundation.org/big-data-commission

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About TechAmerica Foundation
TechAmerica Foundation educates industry executives, policy makers and opinion leaders on the promise of technological innovation to advance prosperity, security and the general welfare. Launched in 1981, the Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit, non-partisan affiliate of TechAmerica, which is the leading voice and resource for the U.S. technology industry. The Foundation disseminates award-winning industry, policy and market research covering topics such as U.S. competitiveness in a global economy, innovation in government, and other areas of national interest. It also organizes conferences and seminars to explore pertinent issues with government and industry representatives and to share the Foundation’s findings. Learn more about TechAmerica Foundation at www.techamericafoundation.org.

Amazon Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.