big data ldn manca vitorino

Big Data LDN 2024, the UK’s leading data, analytics, and AI event, is just around the corner – promising two days filled with ground-breaking stories, expert insights, and endless innovation.

Taking place at the Kensington Olympia in London on September 18-19, this year’s event features fifteen theatres and over 300 expert speakers sharing insights on some of the industry’s hottest topics – from generative AI to data privacy.

Manca Vitorino, formally a financial journalist for Thomson Reuters in Slovenia, now the director of data at ICIS (Independent Commodity Intelligence Services) – part of RELX is transforming the data landscape in data operations. She reshaped data from a supporting role into a key driver of growth by enabling advanced analytics.

Renowned for advocating for improving diversity in the data and analytics space and the importance of non-STEM representation in the industry to drive curiosity and innovation, Manca is all set to address misinformation and disinformation in an AI-driven world.

At Big Data LDN, Manca will speak at the session Building Trust in the Age of Misinformation and Disinformation on Thursday, September 19, 2024.

EM360Tech’s Shubhangi Dua spoke with Manca about her role at Big Data LDN and how the session will explore leveraging trust – in data as well as AI – as a differentiating factor and a value generator for industries.

Shubhangi: Big Data LDN 2024 is just around the corner. What are you most excited about?

Manca: Without a doubt, I’m most excited about getting together with the data community. It’s one of those events that absolutely everyone in the data space tends to attend so it’s a great opportunity to catch up.

Big Data LDN also provides an excellent opportunity to learn. The industry is evolving really fast, and it can be challenging to stay on top of the latest developments and trends so the talks and presentations are a great chance to catch up and learn from peers.

I also enjoy interacting with the vendors and seeing what new technology is available to solve data challenges and I like that I can gather insights from those vendors as well as their customers in the same place. This can potentially cut through quite a lot of the noise you’d otherwise experience.

Shubhangi: A little birdie told me you’d be doing a session at the event about building trust in the age of mis and disinformation. Could you give us a sneak peek into some of the key topics you’ll be exploring during the talk?

Manca: The premise of the debate is that mis and disinformation is everywhere, and it is becoming increasingly hard to distinguish between what is real and what is not. At the same time, we’re heading towards an increasingly AI-driven world where many decisions will be automated. In a world like that, to maintain trust, I believe businesses will need to implement strong data governance processes to gain and maintain trust with their customers.

In the panel debate, we have great and diverse representation from the public and private sectors as well as from a regulatory perspective, which will enable us to really explore how we can leverage trust – in data as well as AI – as a differentiating factor and a value generator for our industries. I also expect the debate to highlight the growing importance of data governance as it shifts from a regulatory hygiene factor to a value generator.

Shubhangi: What is the importance of data events for the data community?

Manca: These events are the opportunity to come together and really distinguish hype from reality – is there value in new tech and if so, how do we create it?

One of the greatest things about working in data is the fact that most of us share very common challenges, regardless of the industry we work in. The conference offers a chance to learn from other people’s experiences – their successes and their mistakes – while also showcasing our collective knowledge and expertise.

Sign up to Big Data LDN 2024 today and be part of the UK’s leading hub for the Data Community to learn and share best practices, build relationships, and find the tools needed to develop an effective data-driven business.

Don’t miss out on Manca Vitorino’s session: ‘Building Trust in the Age of Mis- and Disinformation’ at 12:00 - 12:30 on Thursday 19th September over in the Teams and Culture Theatre.

We can’t wait to see you there!