Following breakfast, we'll gather to listen to a fascinating talk led by Professors Dave Stephens and Eric Kolaczyk. What are data? With the recent launch of the Faculty of Science Computational Data Systems Initiative, headed by Prof. Eric Kolaczyk, McGill is being positioned to address this question in all its complexity. 

The past few years have demonstrated how the representation of data creates support or indifference to policy and actions - "flatten the curve" in the early stages of the pandemic is one example - and the storytelling around data has emerged as a new form of communication. 

Join David Stephens and Eric Kolaczyk, professors in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, in an in-depth discussion of data and its uses. The talk is followed by a question and answer period - bring your questions! Everyone is welcome.

Eric Kolaczyk is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and inaugural director of the Computational and Data Systems Initiative (CDSI) in the Faculty of Science, at McGill University.  His research is focused at the point of convergence where statistical and machine learning theory and methods support human endeavors enabled by computing and engineered systems, frequently from a network-based perspective of systems science.  He develops novel methodologies for design, representation, modeling, inference, prediction, and uncertainty quantification accompanying new paradigms for data measurement and analysis. He has published over 100 articles, including several books on the topic of network analysis. As an associate editor, he has served on the boards of JASA and JRSS-B in statistics, IEEE IP and TNSE in engineering, and SIMODS in mathematics. He formerly served as co-chair of the US National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering Roundtable on Data Science Education. He is an elected fellow of the AAAS, ASA, and IMS, an elected senior member of the IEEE, and an elected member of the ISI.

Talk - 9:00 - 10:00 am