Data Science as a Profession

Data Science is a set of multidisciplinary methodological and technical principles aimed at interpreting and extracting knowledge from data. Data science methods are based on techniques from various disciplines, mainly from mathematics, statistics, and information science, and computer science.

The role of Data Scientist has been defined by Harvard Business Review in 2012 as “The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century“:

“… Data scientists are the key to realising the opportunities presented by big data. They bring structure to it, find compelling patterns in it, and advise executives on the implications for products, processes, and decisions. They find the story buried in the data and communicate it. And they do not just deliver reports: they get at the questions at the heart of problems and devise creative approaches to them … ”

The Data Scientist profession is considered one of the key roles responsible for the systematic use of Big Data in public and private companies private and research world.

In this meeting, we will discuss the profile of the Data Scientist and a Master Degree Program in Data Science dedicated to applying data science to Social Sciences, Psychology and Economics. This project is the outcome of a collaboration between the departments of Mathematics, Sociology and Social Research, Engineering and Science Information, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, Engineering Industrial, the Mind / Brain Center of the University of Trento, and the Bruno Kessler Foundation which will be represented by Cesare Furlanello, Head of the MPBA Unit and Paolo Traverso, ICT Director.

The Program

16.30 – Opening greetings | Mario Diani (Director Dept of Sociology and Social Research – University of Trento)
16.40 – Istitutional greetings | Paolo Traverso (Director ICT – FBK)
16.50 – Data Science in Society: Trends, Opportunities and Challenges | Ciro Cattuto (Scientific Director of ISI Foundation – Torino)
17.20 – Introduction to LM initiative in Data Science | Andrea Caranti (Director Dept of Mathematics – University of Trento)
17.35 – Public comments and questions | Moderator: Cesare Furlanello (Kessler Foundation)
18.15 – Conclusions | Niculae Sebe (Director  Dept of Information Engineering and Computer Science – University of Trento)
18.30 – Farewell cocktail