The Worlds of Big Data

DENISE LIEVESLEY, CBE

Denise Lievesley has been Principal of Green Templeton College and Professor of Statistics at Oxford University since 2015. She was previously Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Public Policy and Professor of Social Statistics at King’s College London and, before that, Chief Executive of the English Health and Social Care Information Centre, Director of Statistics at UNESCO, and Director of the UK Data Archive. She has served as a United Nations Special Adviser on Statistics, President of the Royal Statistical Society (1999 – 2001), President of the International Statistical Institute (2007 - 2009), and President of the International Association for Official Statistics (1995 - 1997). She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2014 for services to social science. Her research interests relate broadly to the quality of and trust in official data.

For an interview with Professor Lievesley on a previous visit that she made to Vancouver (excerpted from the latest Green College Annual Report & Society Magazine), click here.

 

 

 

Sixth Annual Richard V. Ericson Lecture

THE CHALLENGES OF THE NEW DATA ENVIRONMENT

Coach House, Green College, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road

Wednesday, March 1, 5:00 pm, reception to follow

Data are fundamental to our understanding of society and for ensuring that policies are soundly based on evidence. In recent years the amount of data being produced has massively increased and new digital technologies have resulted in exponential leaps in computing power. As a result, the use of big data analytics over the next decade is likely to become far more powerful and sophisticated. This will have both positive and negative implications. Denise Lievesley will talk, from the perspective of a statistician and a former data archivist, about some of the challenges of this new data environment for those who care about access to data for research purposes.

If you wish to stay for dinner at Green College after the lecture, please make a reservation by noon on the previous day at 604-822-0912 kitchen@gcdining.ca $16 students $20 others

 

Vancouver Institute Lecture

MEASURING THE WORLD: SHOULD WE TRUST STATISTICS?

Lecture Hall No. 2, Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, UBC

Saturday, March 4, 8:15 pm

The Green Visiting Professors program was founded by UBC Honorary Alumnus Dr. Cecil Green and his wife Ida in 1972, to provide opportunities for UBC students and faculty and members of the wider local public to interact with outstanding scholars, scientists, artists, performers and intellectuals from around the world. Visiting Professors are now appointed by Green College.

UBC faculty members wishing to nominate visitors under the program are invited to contact the Principal of the College, Dr. Mark Vessey: gc.principal@ubc.ca