John Furrier, SiliconANGLE Media | Stanford Women In Data Science Conference (WiDS) 2015

Women in Data Science Conference: A convergence of interdisciplinary fields | - #WiDSConference #theCUBE #Stanford #WiDS #SiliconANGLE
by Marlene Den Bleyker | Nov 13, 2015

As the inaugural Women in Data Science Conference, held at Stanford University, came to a close, John Furrier and Jeff Frick, cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, discussed the important discoveries revealed at the event.

Hardcore science

While describing the event, the Furrier and Frick were stunned by the level of content and credentials in the room. “This is not a women in tech promotional event; this is a down and dirty, hardcore computer science thing at Stanford University,” Furrier said, adding that he was in awe of the work being done by “tech athletes.”

He also made note of the companies and educational levels of the attendees and felt that the event was a computer science-oriented program that brought together other interdisciplinary fields.

Show dynamics

Referring to the dynamics of the show, Furrier said the problems being solved were significant, and he was inspired to see so many women “kicking butt in science.” He also felt that the dynamics were different from the standard shows, which are mostly dominated by men.

“The hallway conversation is really engaging, and the women are camera shy,” he said.

Furrier spoke to the mingling of data science with interdisciplinary fields and believes that it is all coming together because the foundational work of blending science and computer science is in place. “It’s not as messy as it was before, so you are seeing an explosion of multi-talented individuals across multiple disciplines,” he said. “People are really starting to sink their teeth into big problems.”