Inaugural lecture prof.dr. George Fletcher

Prof.dr. George Fletcher was appointed full-time professor of Data Management Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) on July 1, 2020. He will deliver his inaugural lecture on June 16, 2023.

About the lecture
What is data? The question seems so simple given how much we have talked about data over the past decades, from big data to data science, from data-driven science, humanities and industry to data intelligence. In this lecture we will deep-dive together into how we approach this question in the research field of data management systems, highlighting that there are no easy and simple answers. We will see that, fundamentally, data is inextricably intertwined in people and what we do together with and through data. I will show that despite half a century of research, the data systems community has just begun to scratch the surface of understanding what it would mean to place people in the center of our investigations. Such insights are critically needed, as they will guide us in how we might build better data systems for the future. This is vitally important work which will require us to rethink basic tenets of data systems research and education towards reimagining data systems in society. In closing, I will outline where we are going in Eindhoven in putting people in the center and present a call for participation in the emerging social turn in the study of data systems.

In the event you cannot attend, you can join via live stream, or watch the lecture after the event.

For more information, please download the invitation.

After June 16, 2023, the text of the lecture will be available online.
 

Preceding the inaugural lecture of Prof.dr. George Fletcher, you are cordially invited to attend a mini-symposium entitled ‘Help there are people in my data!: Towards a social turn in data work’. Attendance at the symposium is free of charge. Registration is not required.

For more information, please download the symposium program.