Netflix is the world’s leading internet television network. That didn’t happen by accident or simple fortune – we are data-driven as part of our culture, and have built the tools needed to navigate the unchartered waters of delivering internet video at scale and becoming the first truly global storyteller in movies and television.

Brian Sullivan is the Director of the Streaming Data Science and Engineering team at Netflix, the world’s leading Internet television network. His team builds analytic systems and delivers insight into the streaming activity across hundreds of client devices, world-class server systems and content delivery networks to serve up a third of peak internet traffic in North America. Brian’s prior experience spans the analytic stack from software engineering, data architecture, reporting/visualization and analysis. He has also worked across a number of domains including virtual worlds, banking, retail, automobile traffic measurement and fingerprint recognition systems.

ODPi Director of Program Management, John Mertic, explains how the work of the ODPi complements and supports that of the ASF. Since ODPi’s launch in 2015, there has been some confusion around how its work may overlap, or potentially compete, with that of the ASF. Mertic will detail how the ODPi’s specifications and by-laws reinforce the role of the ASF as the singular place where Hadoop development occurs. He will also explain how the ODPi’s focus on the downstream Hadoop ecosystem oxygenates the Big Data market and stimulates growth.

 

Ion Stoica, the founder of Databricks and keynote speaker at Apache Big Data in Vancouver, discusses the Spark 2.0 release, which has at least three robust new features.

“Spark 2.0 is about taking what has worked and what we have learned from the users and making it even better,” Stoica said.

We’ve all seen an innovative data project that fails and all too often the reason isn’t a lack of technical skill among the team members. In order to succeed in complex organizations, data project teams require both diversity and versatility (and their sources aren’t always where you might expect). From the battlefield to the boardroom, Amy Gaskin’s experience demonstrates that incongruous teams can achieve remarkable results.

Amy Gaskins has previously worked for NOAA and MetLife. Amy was an Assistant Vice President in MetLife’s Global Technology & Operations, managing data science projects in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. In her previous government service, Amy spent over 10 years as a senior intelligence analyst supporting various agencies within the United States Intelligence Community and Department of Defense.