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Missoula Spotlighted During International Big Data Week – Global event series aims to raise profile of city’s burgeoning data tech sector

What do Atlanta, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Zurich have in common with Missoula? All are global cities focusing on Big Data the week of May 5 – 11.

Missoula is fast becoming a leading city for Big Data. Drawing on momentum from new curriculum and the upcoming Cyber Triathlon at the University of Montana, the success of local tech startups, and the efforts of the public-private Big Data Alliance, Missoula is hosting a series of events during the first-ever Big Data Week: http://www.bigdataweek.com/missoula.

Missoula is the smallest city, and, to date, the only city in Montana taking part, one of more than 30 host participating cities across the globe.

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Big Data Presentation And Discussion -"Geospatial Big Data", 4/28, Missoula, Montana http://www.matr.net/article-60306.html

Montanans are PROUD to live in Montana – We’re #1 in the U.S.A. http://www.matr.net/article-60338.html

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Caitlin Copple chairs the Economic Development Subcommittee of the Missoula City Council and is spearheading city-county broadband efforts aimed at growing the tech sector.

"Big data needs big broadband, and it’s our job as policymakers to make sure businesses and entrepreneurs have access to the essential infrastructure they need to thrive in Missoula," Copple said.

London-based co-founder Andrew Gregson has helped advise the Missoula organizing committee.

"The role of data in business, health, science, technology, retail and entertainment will be a key differentiator for the organizations that succeed in the next digital wave," explained co-founder Andrew Gregson, who lives in London and has been assisting Missoula. "Big Data Week educates and creates new opportunities for organizations of all shapes and sizes in understanding what big data can do for them now and in the future."

The local Big Data Week organizing committee includes Caitlin Copple and Jason Wiener from City Council, Melanie Brock from Missoula Economic Partnership, Russ Fletcher of Inteneo Systems and Montana Associated Technology Roundtables, Eric Tangedahl of the UM Business School, and Eric Franzon of SemanticWeb.com.

For most up to date schedule of events, visit http://www.bigdataweek.com/missoula and get updates from all participating cities via #bdw2014 on Twitter.

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First Ever Cyber Triathlon

Saturday, May 3, 9 a.m., University of Montana
Kick off Big Data Week in Missoula as high school and college students from across the state converge on the UM campus to solve a digital forensics puzzle, a data analytics puzzle and a hacking puzzle. The first team to crack all three puzzles to find the Cyber Coin wins cash and other prizes! Register and learn more at http://www.umt.edu/cyberlab/cyber-triathlon.

Mayoral Proclamation

Monday, May 5, 7 p.m., City Council Chambers:
Missoula Mayor John Engen will proclaim the city’s first-ever Big Data Week May 5 – 11, 2014, and the lineup of events will be announced during the regular City Council meeting at 7 p.m., 140 W. Pine Street. Open to the public, 140 W. Pine Street.

Data Demonstrations + Meet & Greet

Tuesday, May 6, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., UM School of Business, Room 123
UM’s School of Business will host presentations on data analytics, security, and Big Data by faculty and students. UM is expanding its Big Data offerings to students to meet demands from industry to hire students with data analytic skill sets.

Brownbag: Big Data for Dummies

Wednesday, May 7, Noon – 1 p.m., MonTEC
Everything you ever wanted to know about Big Data but were too afraid to ask! Led by experts Eric Franzon of SemanticWeb.com and Russ Fletcher of Inteneo Systems.

Big Data Applications in Cyber Security

Wednesday, May 7, 5:30 – 7 p.m., MonTEC
Sherri Davidoff, founder of LMG Security, presents on Big Data and Cyber Security. Attackers use tools such as the Blackhole Exploit Kit to send phishing emails, infect computers, and steal confidential data. Watch a phishing attack in action and see what an infected computer does under the hood. How can you track down the hackers on your network? Davidoff will show samples of Internet traffic and discuss tools and techniques that the pros use to catch even stealthy hackers in action.

Brownbag: Predicting Future Healthcare Costs

Thursday, May 8, Noon – 1 p.m., MonTEC
Data Smart Solutions’ Jordan Goldsmith presents "Predicting Future Healthcare Cost with Multivariate Statistics: The effects of comorbidities, polypharmacy and case management on the healthcare costs of an individual. Goldsmith’s presentation will specifically address these topics: comorbid – existing simultaneously with and usually independently of another medical condition, polypharmacy – the practice of administering or using multiple medications especially concurrently (as in the treatment of a single disease or of several coexisting conditions), multivariate – having or involving a number of independent mathematical or statistical variables

Big Data Applied: Generating Insights through Big Data Systems

Thursday, May 8, 5:30 – 7 p.m., MonTEC
Dr. Alex Philp, Founder and President of GCS Research, an IBM Champion, and a Faculty Affiliate at the University of Montana, will provide an overview of the key factors driving the Big Data phenomena today, including an overview of the people, data, and technologies currently at the core of Big Data revolution as well as some examples of how Big Data is transforming specific industries, what this means in terms of innovation and how this translates into increased revenue and profitability.

Closing Presentations + Reception + Beer (thanks to Big Sky Brewing…)

Friday, May 9, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m., MonTEC
Part I: The Huge Value of "Little Data

Russ Fletcher and Joe Garrett of Inteneo Systems explore how every organization must consider how it will use its internal and external data to survive in an ever increasing data centric world. Learn more at http://goo.gl/bFbSMV.

Part II: Semantic Web for Fun and Profit

SemanticWeb.com expert Eric Franzon will examine how organizations are applying W3C Semantic Web standards to Big (and small) Data to generate revenue, mitigate risk, and solve problems in new and interesting ways.

Both presentations are designed to offer insights for both technologists and non-technologists alike and there will be beer.

Big Data Week is one of the most unique global platforms of interconnected community events focusing on the social, political, technological impacts of Data. The festival connects more than 30 cities through locally-hosted meetups, events, networking functions, data visualization demos, debates, discussion and hack-a-thons. Learn more at http://www.bigdataweek.com.

Spread the word. Come join the fun!

Contacts: Caitlin Copple, Missoula City Councilwoman, [email protected] 406.493.4281

Russ Fletcher, Inteneo Systems [email protected] , 406.531.8119

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