Mammoth BI conference to bust myths about big data, analytics

Speakers include prominent local business leaders and global industry heavyweights, including a trio of top PhDs: Marc Smith (Chief Social Scientist of Connected Action Consulting Group in Silicon Valley), Eric Siegel (author of best-selling publication Predictive Analytics), and Data Warehousing Analyst Barry Devlin (author of the book Business UnIntelligence). They'll be joining a significant line-up of handpicked heavyweights that features Anthony Miller (CEO of the Lightstone Group) and Dr Jasper Horrell (GM of Science Computing at the Square Kilometer Array, or SKA) sharing insights from their wealth of industry expertise.

Jason Haddock, founder of Mammoth BI and a member of the TEDx Cape Town team, will ensure that this is no ordinary conference. Drawing from his experience with TEDx, he has implemented an unconventional, interactive approach to the event.

Key thoughts in under 20 minutes

Speakers will need to deliver key thoughts in no more than 20 minutes and workshops will be held throughout the conference. The workshops will facilitate networking and a practical understanding of business intelligence and analytics.

With full-day conference tickets selling for R700, and workshops for R900 each, the event aims to appeal not only to IT specialists and general businesses, but also to students. Education, collaboration and the desire to make the notion of big data accessible has been the organiser's focus.

Mammoth BI is giving away 100 free tickets to students as further evidence of its commitment to boosting education, and is working with UCT, UWC and the University of Stellenbosch to make this happen.

The conference is of interest to anyone who wishes to know how practically to adopt big data, BI and analytics to work towards their competitive advantage. Keynote presentations will take place at the CTICC, with five breakaway workshops to be held at other venues in the city.

Workshop attendees can expect industry excellence at excellent value for money. In response to its innovative approach and sense of responsibility to the development of the BI community, Mammoth BI has quickly found support from key sponsors like Saratoga, Synergy, Silicon Cape, SAP, Microsoft and Internet Solutions (IS). Microsoft is running a full-day Hackathon; IS steers a full-day event for Hadoop, R & Tableau practitioners; and there'll be a SAP Masterclass. Workshop attractions include a hands-on session with the globe's foremost predictive analytics specialist, Eric Siegel, as well as an opportunity to interact with social media thought leader Marc Smith. Workshop places are limited so advance booking is advised.

For more, go to mammothbi.co.za