DATA STORIES | KNIME SPRING SUMMIT | KNIME ANALYTICS PLATFORM
On The Yellow Carpet of the KNIME Spring Summit 2024
My Data Guest — Meet the KNIME Data Science Community
Here is special edition of the My Data Guest interview series. On April 15–17th, I was at KNIME Spring Summit 2024 in Austin (US), together with Riddhima as my co-host. We were at the entrance of the first event of the KNIME Spring Summit: the KNIME Partner Award Ceremony 2024.
In this roundup, we’ve captured key insights from industry leaders and innovators. From certification challenges to upcoming KNIME initiatives, and from new features to impactful projects, the Summit is abuzz with excitement for the future of data science and analytics.
Re-watch the highlights of the KNIME Spring Summit 2024
Rosaria: Mrinal Prasad, could you share more about the KNIME 90-day certification challenge at your company?
Mrinal: At Saarthee, we seized the opportunity of the 90-day KNIME certification challenge, offering free certification during this period, to encourage our employees to get certified. So, we launched a 10-day, 100-certification challenge within our firm, and the response was phenomenal. Within just 15 days, we achieved 184 certifications. As of today, 92% of our company is L4-certified.
Rosaria: What a remarkable achievement; congratulations! Could you share some strategies you used to achieve this?
Mrinal: We made it a collective effort across the company. Everyone, including the leadership team, participated actively. We even tied it to bonuses, making it a part of our company culture. It’s all about fostering a culture of continuous learning and upskilling.
Riddhima: Professor Delen, as a seasoned data scientist and academic, could you elaborate on the significance of industry-academia panels?
Dursun: These panels play a crucial role in bridging the gap between academia and industry. In the field of analytics and data science, practical knowledge is essential. These discussions provide insights into real-world applications, helping educators tailor their curriculum to meet industry demands. Ultimately, it ensures that graduates are well-prepared for the job market.
Rosaria: Representing the industry perspective at the industry-academia panel, we have Fabiola Valverde from Siemens Healthineers. What are your expectations for the panel?
Fabiola: We hope to gain insights into how internships can better prepare students for the industry. By bringing together academia and industry professionals, we can identify key areas for collaboration and ensure that the next generation of data scientists is equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
Rosaria: Roberto, a data scientist on the Evangelism team at KNIME, is the person behind Game of Nodes, the first KNIME data science workflow tournament. What can we expect from the final game?
Roberto: The final game is going to be exciting! We have two teams competing head-to-head, and the stakes are high. It’s a time-based challenge that will test their problem-solving skills and creativity. And of course, there are some exciting prizes up for grabs, including the prestigious Golden Note trophy. The winners and finalists will be featured on this podcast, so stay tuned!
Rosaria: Aline, as the creator of the Just KNIME It challenges, you’ve provided an excellent resource for upskilling through gamification. Could you tell us about the upcoming challenges and how people can participate?
Aline: We’re thrilled to announce that the third season of Just KNIME It! challenges will kick off on May 15th. It’s an opportunity for everyone to enhance their data science and low-code skills. Remember, registration isn’t mandatory, but it’s a great way to receive reminders and stay updated on the latest challenges. These challenges cater to various skill levels — easy, medium, and hard — focusing on data-oriented problems spanning from data science, and data engineering to data analytics. Participants not only hone their skills but also join a vibrant community on the KNIME Forum, exchanging solutions and ideas.
Riddhima: Thank you, Aline. It’s incredible to see how these challenges contribute to ongoing learning.
Aline: To make it even more convenient, each season comes with a booklet containing a wide range of challenges. Season one featured 40 challenges, while season two had 30, and participants can access both booklets for free for a total of 70 challenges. They cover diverse topics like anonymization, geospatial analytics, and sentimental analysis. It’s a comprehensive resource to tailor your learning experience based on your interests and skill levels.
Rosaria: Here is Jim Falgout, co-CTO at KNIME. What’s your favorite recent feature in KNIME?
Jim: One of the features I’m particularly excited about is the job viewer for the KNIME Hub. It provides users with a comprehensive view of their jobs, allowing them to debug and optimize their workflows more efficiently. But what’s even more exciting is that it’s laying the groundwork for browser-based workflow editing. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for our users, and I can’t wait to see how they leverage it.
Rosaria: Jeet Jagtap, can you share details about your current project with KNIME?
Jeet: Currently, at Equinoxys we are working on implementing KNIME-based data analytics for the FDA. It’s a critical engagement for us, as it involves analyzing a vast amount of industry and government data. We’re leveraging KNIME workflows and concepts like ML to streamline the process and provide our clients with actionable insights.
Rosaria: All the way from Japan, we have Hokuto Fujii, who has recently been honored with the KNIME KNinja award. Can you share the most effective strategy you’ve used to expand the KNIME community at Yamaha?
Hokuto: It’s truly an honor to receive this award. The most impactful initiatives we implemented was a comprehensive training program that successfully onboarded over 10,000 users.
Rosaria: That’s an astonishing number, you really deserved that award. From Japan to Hungary, let’s ask Norbert Havas from Datraction a quick question. Why don’t you tell us about your latest KNIME project?
Norbert: We developed a new product called TIGER that enables users to do regulatory reporting for financial institutions using KNIME workflows. It streamlines the reporting process, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements while also providing valuable insights from the data. KNIME plays a crucial role in this process, enabling us to design flexible and scalable workflows that meet the unique needs of our clients.
Rosaria: Thank you all for your valuable insights and contributions to the KNIME Summit!
Watch the full interview at the KNIME Spring Summit 2024 on YouTube:
