Prof. Barry Smyth - From Small Sensors to Big Data: How the Sensor Web is Changing our World

About the Speech: In our increasingly digitised world, almost everything we do creates a record that is stored somewhere, whether we are purchasing a book, calling a friend, ordering a meal, or renting a movie. And in the world of the sensor web this is no longer limited to our online activities; exercising in the park, shopping for groceries, or falling asleep are just some of our everyday activities that are likely to generate data. The world of the sensor web is all about understanding how we can (and whether we should) use this information to enable better decisions. In his talk, Prof. Smyth explored how these ideas suggest new ways of thinking about some of modern society's toughest challenges and how the resulting technologies will impact on our everyday lives in the future.

About the Speaker: Prof. Barry Smyth holds the DIGITAL Chair of Computer Science at University College Dublin and is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He leads the new Insight Centre for Data Analytics, a €88m research centre hosting more than 200 researchers and funded by Science Foundation Ireland and Industry. Prof. Smyth has published more than 400 scientific papers and co-founded two companies (ChangingWorlds and HeyStaks) to commercialise technologies arising from his research.