Stephen Ezell bio

Vice President, Global Innovation Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)

The State of Digital Skills in the U.S. Economy

An increasingly digitalized global economy requires ever-more digitally skilled workforces for nations to remain productive. Countries that wish to successfully compete in the global digital economy must cultivate work forces possessing the requisite digital skills so that industries, enterprises, and even individuals can thrive in the digital environment. ITIF’s report explores the state of digital skills across the U.S. economy, examining what they are, why they matter, the current extent of workforce digitalization, and how the United States fares in international digital skills comparisons. It concludes by providing a brief overview of some of the best practices and programs being introduced by nonprofit, academic, and corporate organizations to deepen the U.S. digital skills base and suggesting policy recommendations to further foster U.S. digital skills development. Unfortunately, the report finds that domestic and international assessments of digital skills show the United States is lagging its competitors.

Florence D. Hudson bio

Executive Director, Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub at Columbia University

Building the Workforce Pipeline for a Data-Driven Economy

The NSF Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub is a community convener, collaboration hub, and catalyst for data Science, Innovation and Technology with groundbreaking and innovative programs engaging over 5,000 individuals from over 1,000 organizations since the Hub was launched in 2015. In this session, you will learn about the Hub’s signature programs, including the National Student Data Corps (NSDC), which brings open, online, free data science education to students of all ages around the world, especially in underserved communities.The Hub and NSDC are increasing awareness and skills in data science while enabling a valuable community of support to build the workforce pipeline for a data-driven economy.

Presentation (PDF)

Download PDF: NJBDA Meeting Agenda At-A-Glance

8:30 – 9:30

Registration/Refreshments/Exhibits

Registration: Campus Center Gallery, 2nd Floor
Refreshments: Campus Center, Ballroom B
Exhibits: Campus Center, Ballroom A

9:30 – 10:15

Welcome

Campus Center, Ballroom A, 2nd Floor

Matthew Hale, President, NJBDA
A welcome and brief overview of NJBDA

David Bader, Director, NJIT Institute for Data Science
Introductions

Atam Dhawan, Senior Vice Provost for Research, NJIT

Kathleen Nestor Comanto, Deputy Secretary of Higher Education, State of New Jersey

10:15 – 11:00

Keynote

Campus Center, Ballroom A, 2nd Floor

Stephen Ezell, Vice President, Global Innovation Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

“The State of Digital Skills in the U.S. Economy”

11:00 – 11:15

Break/Exhibits/Networking

Campus Center, Campus Center Gallery and Ballroom A & B, 2nd Floor

11:15 – 12:15

Research Workshop Sessions

Campus Center, Campus Center Gallery, Conference Rooms 230, 235, 240

The symposium Research Track features presentations on current applied research in Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning. Presentations are categorized based on three themes: Cybersecurity and Visualization, Science and Technology, and Business Analytics. 

Research Track Chair: Forough Ghahramani, Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Programs, Edge

11:15 – 12:15

Education Pipeline Workshop Sessions

Campus Center, Ballroom A, 2nd Floor

• George Avirappattu, Associate Professor, Kean University (moderator)
• Aaron Fichtner, President, New Jersey Council of County Colleges
• Liana M. Summey, Principal, Newark School of Data Science and Technology
• Mike Reagan, Senior Vice President, Commercial and State Government Industry sectors, CGI, Inc.

12:15 – 1:15

Lunch/Exhibits/Networking

Campus Center, Campus Center Gallery & Ballroom A & B, 2nd Floor

1:15 – 2:15

Keynote Address

Campus Center, Ballroom A, 2nd Floor

Introduction by Judith A. Sheft, Executive Director, New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology

Florence Hudson, Executive Director, Co-Principal Investigator, Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub

“Building the Workforce Pipeline for a Data-Driven Economy”

2:15 – 3:15

Panel Discussion – Industry

Campus Center, Ballroom A, 2nd Floor

• Sherry Marcus, Director, Data Science, Global Head of Analytics and Insights Professional Svcs, Amazon (moderator)
• Ron Bekkerman, Chief Technology Officer, Cherre Inc.
• Mukesh Dalal, Chief AI Officer, Stanley Black & Decker

2:15 – 3:15

Workshop – Cybersecurity Skills

Campus Center, Conference Room 240, 2nd Floor

• Margaret Brennan, Associate Vice President for Economic Development, Rutgers University (moderator)
• Amanda Galante, Cybersecurity Training and Education Services, New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell
• Michael Geraghty, New Jersey Chief Information Security Officer, Director, New Jersey Cybersecurity Integration Cell
• Haifeng Chen, Department Head, Data Science and System Security, NEC Laboratories America
• Karen Worstell, Senior Cybersecurity Strategist, VMware
• Christina Halikiopoulos, Security Solutions Specialist, SHI International Corp.

3:15 – 3:30

Closing Remarks

Campus Center, Ballroom A, 2nd Floor

David Bader, Director, NJIT Institute for Data Science

Matthew Hale, President, NJBDA

Download PDF: NJBDA Meeting Agenda At-A-Glance

NJIT Covid Policy

All in-person events may be held with adherence to campus mask requirements and City of Newark Executive Order MEO-21-0010, as applicable. Masks are required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, in all indoor public and common areas except when eating and drinking.

NJBDA thanks our sponsors for their support of this year’s Symposium.

Industry Leader

Lunch Sponsor

Industry Networking Sponsor

Marketing Partners