Smart Data Kick-off Conference

On April, 22nd, a kick-off conference for the German innovation program “Smart data” took place. I took part, here is what I learned.

Prescriptive Models

One speaker differenciated between explanatory models, predictive models, and prescriptive models. The last class of models makes very much sense to me. We are going to build more sophisticated controls in our devices, and this are prescriptive models.

Data as Business Case

Regarding the data source, the common ground is to use inhouse data. Smarter projects use data from similar sources outside the firm, and/or integrate data from various sources.

Conforming to law, that is, respecting privacy and copyright, is one challenge. Another one is the automatic integration of heterogenous data source. In some pilot projects presented at the conference use semantic models for integration.

Pilot Projects

From the programs that got funded by the BMWi, there were three programs that got my attention. SmartEnergyHub analyses energy use at the airport Stuttgart and introduces load management. SmartRegionalStrategy offers strategic analysis of local urban mass data. KDI (clinical data intelligence) develops a business model for its research database / study management system.