Center for Data, Mathematical, and Computational Sciences Fair

Thursday, April 18, 2024 from 5-7 pm
Trustees Pavilion
Ramapo College of New Jersey

Join us for the Data, Mathematical, and Computational Sciences (DMC) Fair on April 18th, 2024. This event will feature keynote speaker Dr. Anthony Scriffignano. Anthony Scriffignano is an internationally recognized data scientist with experience spanning over 40 years, in multiple industries and domains. He is a Distinguished Fellow and member of the Loomis Council of The Stimson Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan Washington, D.C. think tank.

The event will also feature poster presentations from our students’ Senior Capstone projects and Masters Thesis.

Keynote Speaker

Hyperdisruption: How is the datasphere changing? How are we changing with it?

Anthony Scriffignano, PhD

Computer and information sciences are nothing new. Several generations have now been born into a world where computers, databases, information processing and even artificial intelligence exist. However, things are changing lately. Sometimes, when things change and you are part of that change, it can be difficult to notice.

The amount of information available on Earth, sometimes called the Datasphere, is doubling at a rate which arguably can no longer be measured. Much of this information is unstructured, encrypted, or available only with specific access. Other data is created by devices. Even data itself creates data as it moves from one context to another. We are awash in data.

The amount of computing power and processing capability is also at a critical inflection point. Massive computing power and the advent of Generative AI and Quantum computing are challenging the way that computer scientists think about tractability – or how solvable any given problem is.

Against all of this change, the world itself, connected with this massive data and technology is changing. Global disruption such as pandemic, nation-state actions, and social phenomena have created unprecedented challenges. Responding to any one of these challenges might be overwhelming, but the reality is even more sobering, as there isn’t time to completely respond to one disruption before another comes along, producing a sort of disrupted-disruption, or hyper-disruption.

In this session, Dr. Anthony Scriffignano, Distinguished Fellow and Loomis Innovation Council Member at the Stimson Center, a well-respected Washington DC think tank, and CDO Club’s 2018 Chief Data Officer of the Year will explore how the massive availability of data and technology, advances in AI, and response to disruption are creating massive opportunity and ominous risk. This session will cover three main themes: Our Curious World (how the data around us continues to change), The Risks and Our Response (practical examples of using data and AI in the context of disruption to make better decisions), and Future Trends and Recommendations. This talk will challenge our thinking about the skills leaders
need to succeed.

Anthony Scriffignano, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized data scientist with experience spanning over 40 years in multiple industries and enterprise domains. Scriffignano has extensive background in advanced anomaly detection, computational linguistics and advanced inferential methods, leveraging that background as primary inventor on multiple patents worldwide. He also has extensive experience with various boards and advisory groups. Scriffignano was recognized as the U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year 2018 by the CDO Club, the world’s largest community of C-suite digital and data leaders. He is a Distinguished Fellow with The Stimson Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan Washington, D.C. think tank that aims to enhance international peace and security through analysis and outreach.. He has served as a member of the OECD Network of Experts on AI working group on implementing Trustworthy AI, focused on benefiting people and planet.  He has served as a commissioner for the Atlantic Council, most recently contributing to a Report on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data. He has briefed the US National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and contributed to three separate reports to the President, on Big Data Analytics, Emerging Technologies Strategic Vision, and Internet and Communications Resilience.

Additionally, Scriffignano provided expert advice on private sector data officers to a group of state Chief Data Officers and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Scriffignano serves on various advisory committees in government, private sector, and academia. Most recently, he has been called upon to provide insight on data science implications in the context of a highly disrupted datasphere and the implications of the global pandemic. He has published, delivered keynote presentations and participated in panel presentations extensively in various settings internationally concerning emerging trends in AI and advanced analytics, the “Big Data” explosion, artificial intelligence applications and implications for business and society, multilingual challenges in business identity and malfeasance in commercial and public-sector contexts.