Ex-Formula One pit crew member will open data event in Aberdeen

A former McLaren Formula One pit crew member is set to open a fringe event for the Aberdeen edition of the nationwide DataFest. Hosted at ONE Tech Hub on Wednesday 11th March, DataFest Aberdeen celebrates data innovation in all its forms and what it can do for business and the economy. Run by The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI, the Fringe events are part of DataFest’s aim to support collaboration through a series of events across Scotland exploring, hacking and debating data. Marc Priestly will open this event with a keynote presentation, showcasing the central role data has to play in an industry where every millisecond counts. Following a decade as a mechanic on the McLaren F1 pit crew, the Sky Sports pundit will explain the pivotal role that communication, teamwork and pressure play in developing an effective strategy to secure marginal gains. With each car generating 10mb of data per lap, analysts look ever more closely at competitors’ decisions in an effort to optimise their own team performance. The Data Lab CEO, Gillian Docherty OBE, said: “Data plays a pivotal role in the fast-moving, technology driven industry motorsports industry and there are major parallels for other sectors. “Inspired by our key theme of #BeyondData, it will be hugely interesting for audiences to hear how data can be used on the racetrack to give drivers a competitive edge. Tactics like this can be applied to everyday businesses to help position them in the fast lane and achieve desired results.” The keynote presentation will be followed by a series of short expert sessions highlighting the exciting opportunities on offer in the North-east due to the increase in accessible data and data science talent. A specially selected panel will end the morning session with a discussion around the cultural changes involved in getting the best value from your data and data projects. Throughout the day there will be a series of other event in ONE Tech Hub and delegates will be encouraged to network and make new connections with the local community of data science enthusiasts. Supported by Scottish Enterprise, Merkle Aquila and ONE Tech Hub, DataFest Aberdeen is part of DataFest 2020. The two-week festival of Data Innovation celebrates and showcases Scotland’s role in data science and AI on the international stage. Now in its fourth year, DataFest has grown to become the UK’s largest data festival. Running from the 9 – 20 March DataFest20 will have multiple events in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. Business development executive at The Data Lab for Aberdeen, Cameron Gordon said: “We’re thrilled that the ONE Tech Hub has assisted us in bringing this exciting and engaging event to Aberdeen as part of our Fringe offering. We set out to make DataFest20 bigger, more successful and more collaborative than ever, and it’s these key events across Scotland can help achieve this. “Marc’s visit to Aberdeen will hopefully ignite healthy debate and discussion amongst data enthusiasts in the city, as well as engage with new audiences who can go on to champion Scotland as a growing data science community.” A limited release of tickets is available by clickinghttps://ctzn.tk/datafestaberdeen