IEEE Talks Big Data

IEEE Talks Big Data is a series of Q&A articles with IEEE experts on big data.

 

William Hurley (Whurley) is Chair of the IEEE Quantum Computing Working Group. In this interview, Whurley explores some of the ways quantum computing will change the world, including by analyzing large, often disparate datasets that traditional computers struggle to process. He’s also involved in a new IEEE project that aims to eliminate arguably the biggest barrier to quantum computing going mainstream: the lack of industry-standard definitions about its most fundamental concepts. Whurley has been announced as a keynote speaker at the annual SXSW Conference, March 9-18, 2018, in Austin. This session will be included as a part of the IEEE Tech for Humanity Series at SXSW.

Question: Quantum computing has been in development for decades but some vendors are starting to offer commercial products. How long before quantum computers become something that's common in at least large enterprises and government agencies? And what are the barriers to adoption? Cost? The learning curve of quantum computing?

Professor Sorel Reisman chairs the Standing Committee for the IEEE Computer Society Signature Conference on Computers, Software, and Applications (COMPSAC), serves as a tenured professor of information systems in the Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences in the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at California State University (Cal State), Fullerton, and as managing director of MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), a project of the Cal State University Chancellor’s Office. Professor Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed chairs the COMPSAC Steering Committee and serves as a professor of computer science and director of the Ubicomp Research Laboratory at Marquette University. The two professors recently participated in a joint interview during COMPSAC 2017 in Turin, Italy, on the impacts of Big Data, disruptive technologies and how COMPSAC 2017 contributes to IEEE’s mission to advance technology for the benefit of humanity.

Question: What are the quintessential disruptive technologies today with the greatest impact?

Dr. Mahmoud Daneshmand is a member of the IEEE Big Data Initiative (BDI) Steering Committee, Co-Founder and Chair of Steering Committee of the IEEE Internet of Things (IoT) Journal, and Professor of Business Intelligence & Analytics at Stevens Institute of Technology. Dr. Kenneth J. Lutz is an IEEE Life Senior Member and an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware, where he teaches Smart Grid courses. The two men recently participated in a joint interview to frame some of the issues raised by Big Data and data analytics in the context of the Smart Grid.

Question: Would each of you take a turn describing how we should frame a discussion on Big Data and analytics in the Smart Grid era?

Dr. Ritu Chadha is an IEEE Senior member and serves as Executive Director at Vencore Labs (dba Applied Communication Sciences), where she oversees the application of data analytics to diverse domains, including healthcare, cyber security, and wireless networks. In this Q&A she discusses cyber security of wireless networks and the creation of testbed environments for testing cyber security algorithms.

Question: You work on something described as “detecting and mitigating attacks on the control plane of wireless ad hoc networks.” Would you explain what that means?

Lyria Bennett Moses chairs IEEE’s Society on Social Implications of Technology (IEEE-SSIT) Australia Chapter and is an Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Kensington, Australia. She is also a member of the IEEE Big Data Initiative Steering Committee. Greg Adamson serves as president of IEEE-SSIT and is a Principal Fellow at the Melbourne School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia. Both Bennett Moses and Adamson take deep personal and professional interest in the social implications of technology. They share their personal views of the topic in this interview.

Question: What draws each of you to this topic?

Christine “Chris” Miyachi chairs IEEE Cloud Computing. She works as a systems engineer and software architect at Xerox Corporation, and is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In this Q&A, Miyachi discusses big data’s and the Internet of Things’ (IoT) implications for the cloud and for her professional work.

Question: Chris, would you share some thoughts on the various drivers for cloud computing and its relationship with big data?

Dr. Cicek Cavdar and Dr. Burak Kantarci are both active in the IEEE Green ICT Initiative, which is driven, in part, by the advent of big data. Cavdar was coordinator of the project 5GrEEn: Towards Green 5G Mobile Network, now Swedish cluster coordinator of the project SooGREEN – Service Oriented Optimization of Green Mobile Networks, and a senior researcher in the Communications Systems Department at the School of ICT at KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Kantarci is a senior member of IEEE and an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering, Clarkson University, New York. In the following Q&A they discuss drivers, implications and the future of Green ICT.

Question: What forces or developments are driving the need to develop Green ICT?

Dr. David Belanger and Dr. José M. F. Moura are the co-leaders of the IEEE Big Data Initiative. Belanger is senior research fellow in the Business Intelligence and Analysis Program at Stevens Institute of Technology; Moura is the Philip L. and Marsha Dowd University Professor at CMU, with interests in signal processing and data science and 2016 IEEE VP for Technical Activities. Both are big data subject matter experts and discuss the technologies that are developing to help realize opportunities in big data, where they might occur and what frameworks are needed.

Question: What comprises big data from a technological perspective?