Week 4
Mon
After a weekend of cycling, family birthday celebrations and
a victorious boat race, I started the week by going to the UCL Big DataSymposium. There were a range of speakers from academia and industry talking
about big data in research, business and security. After seeing my week ahead
packed with interviews, I decided against epic networking like at the previous
conference and was more of an observer! The speakers were very good and it’s
always good to hear more different applications of big data and opinions on the
future of the analytics. The most useful session for me was the afternoon
session on application in businesses, but there was also a lot of discussions
around business-university collaborations and consumer privacy.
The more I research into big data, the more I realise just
how much personal information is out there: I switch between wanting to cut up
my Clubcard and disappear to giving everyone everything and reaping the
benefits from their analytics!
Tues
In the morning, I caught up with the e-mails I had missed
yesterday, which involved scheduling some more interviews. I also wrote up
notes from yesterday’s symposium and prepared questions for the interviews I
had planned in the afternoon.
I had my first solo face-to-face interviews in the afternoon:
one in Ealing and the other in Fulham. Both interviewees were really
informative and gave interesting perspectives on how big companies are using
big data. It’s also good to start to see common themes emerging from what
people are saying. This gives me encouragement that I will be able to put it
all together at some point!
Wed
I spent today either interviewing or writing up interviews.
One of them was across London, which gave me a great opportunity for a walk in
the sunshine! Despite the tourists, it’s walks like that when you see all the
famous London landmarks in all their glory that make me really enjoy working in
the city.
After work, we went as a group of fellows to a jazz night at the crypt under Trafalgar square. This was great fun and ended with us dancing very
enthusiastically at the back of the room! Although, with London travel times it
makes getting back so much later than what I’m used to…
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Thurs
After a big block of interviews, I had a lot of writing up
to do and, with two more interviews scheduled for the afternoon I had questions
to write as well! This led to a busy morning at my desk and a full on afternoon
of interviewing. Both conversations were productive though, and backed up
points made by other people I had spoken to. They also gave me some more people
to speak to, who might also be of help.
On my way home I went to a women’s cycling event at Evans in
Wimbledon: they had speakers who presented and then answered questions on
cycling as well as snacks and discounts. I also bumped into a girl I’d met at
Kingston Wheelers, although it took us a while to work out that we knew
each other: we both look very different in our work clothes than in our cycling
kit!
Fri
I can’t believe it’s the end of week 4 already! One third of
the way through and, to be honest, I’m not dying to go back to Birmingham…
After a morning of typing, I finally managed to get on top of my interview
write ups.
There is a system used for keeping track of who POST has spoken
to, so that we know who to contact for certain topics and to try and avoid
asking the same people the same questions. In the afternoon I went along to a training
session on how to use this software, so that I can input all my interviewees
once I’m finished. Speaking of interviewees, I had one more to finish off the
week: giving me a total of 7 in 4 days!
It’s great being able to speak to people from such a wide
range of sectors. From companies specialising in retail like eBay and TESCO to
sports analytics and financial services, it seems as though everyone is, or
could be, using big data.
This week has been exhausting, but I’m trying to build up
the energy to go to the “ukscitweetup” after my spin class. I’d be much more
enthusiastic if I trusted the bus service from Hammersmith, but I keep ending
up lost in Barnes on my way home…
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