Data Journeys

Kirk Borne is the Principal Data Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton, PhD Astrophysicist, and world-renowned Big Data Influencer. In 2007 he launched the first-ever data science bachelors degree program as a Professor of Computational Science at George Mason University and in 2009 co-created the field of Astroinformatics to support his research. Since Kirk has been around long-before the field was even called Data Science, we start this conversation by taking a 50-foot helicopter view of the field: where we’ve been over the past decade, where we are now, and how aspiring Data Scientists can prepare for what’s coming next. Other topics covered include… what it means to be “data literate” how organizations can promote a “culture of experimentation” the data science skills, talents, & aptitudes that have stood the test of time Kirk’s thought process behind creating the first data science bachelors degree program at GMU changes he would make to the program if he re-created it today …. and perhaps most notably: