"Making sense of big data" by Professor Sir Mark Walport

Past Event

Date
 03 December 2013, 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Location
 Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School
34 Broad Street (corner of Holywell and Catte Streets), Oxford, OX1 3BD

What is big data, and what are its potential benefits and risks? The evolving use of large datasets is rarely out of the headlines, prompting intense debate on privacy and security.

From medical records through to GPS signals, the ability to collect large amounts of data holds great potential for research, innovation and productivity. It also means that governments across the globe are grappling with the questions posed by the data being harvested – how to handle it, how to govern its use and how it can impact on policy.

Drawing on his extensive work on the subject and his passion for open access science, Sir Mark Walport, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, will look at how we can make sense of the phenomenon of big data in order to reap the benefits.

This seminar will be followed by a drinks reception. All welcome, please register above.

You can watch this seminar live from 5pm here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ohIqNlGvGQ

Sir Mark Walport FRS FMedSci is the Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government and Head of the Government Office for Science.

Previously, Sir Mark was Director of the Wellcome Trust, which is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health by supporting the brightest minds. Before joining the Trust he was Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Medicine at Imperial College London.

He has been a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology since 2004. He has also been a member of the India UK CEO Forum, the UK India Round Table and the advisory board of Infrastructure UK and a non-executive member of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research. He is a member of a number of international advisory bodies.

He has undertaken independent reviews for the UK Government on the use and sharing of personal information in the public and private sectors: ‘Data Sharing Review’ (2009); and secondary education: ‘Science and Mathematics: Secondary Education for the 21st Century’ (2010).

He received a knighthood in the 2009 New Year Honours List for services to medical research and was elected as Fellow of The Royal Society in 2011.