By Loren K. Baynes, Director, Global Marketing Communications, The Open Group
The Open Group hosted its latest event at the Marriott Riverwalk in the lively city of San Antonio, Texas. On January 27 – 30, we welcomed attendees from across the globe – including decision-makers, Enterprise Architects, Data Scientists, engineers, technologists, and end-users representing many businesses and governments – to explore how organizations can utilize their growing volume of data effectively and securely as part of a digital transformation program.
Day One
To kick off the event, Steve Nunn welcomed attendees by introducing to the stage Tom Fishburne, Creator of ‘Marketoonist’ and Author of “Your Ad Ignored Here”. Using case studies and his renowned cartoons – which have been featured by the likes of The New York Times and Wall Street Journal – Tom outlined the right mindset that is needed to take advantage of the modern digital world. The audience was immediately entertained by his interactive and engaging presentation style, as he provided tips for leaders looking to form strong connections with their customers through data-driven business insights.
Tom Fishburne, Marketoonist
Other plenary sessions on day one included those run by Stephen Whitley, VP Open Data Ecosystem, Schlumberger, who looked at the current data challenges faced by the Upstream Oil and Gas industry, and how technology is enabling organizations within the sector to improve performance and meet sustainability targets. Stephen is a key contributor to The Open Group Open Subsurface Data Universe™ Forum.
Stephen Whitley, Schlumberger
Patrick Shirazi, Enterprise Architect, Capgamini Sweden, then took to the stage to discuss Big Data in the Aviation industry. Through case studies, he demonstrated the potential of AI and Machine Learning to help uncover hidden data patterns existing in high-velocity aviation data, which will help the industry to build models that predict, detect, and make decisions in real-time.
Patrick Shirazi, Capgemini Sweden
Following this, Martin Fleming, VP, Chief Economist, IBM Corp, highlighted the responsibility of technology providers to help businesses make the most of advancements in AI, requiring a rethink in how data is ingested and used. With this, he explored why the workforce of the future will need an influx of workers that understand basic Data Science, Machine Learning and AI capabilities.
On Monday afternoon, highlight talk tracks covering ‘Making Data Useful’ and ‘Digital in Practice’ included:
- Data Standards Built on Comprehensive Data Lifecycle Attributes Are Critical with Ross Philo, President & CEO, Energistics and Philip Neri, Director Marketing, Energistics
- Achieving Seamless Data Flow with Kary Främling, Adjunct Professor, Aalto University and Ron Schuldt, Manager, Data-Harmonizing, LLC
- Delivering Real Business Value from Machine Data Analytics with Andi Mann, Chief Technology Advocate, Splunk
- How to Truly Unify Dev and Ops and Manage its Business Impact through Software Delivery Management with François Déchery, Chief Strategy Officer & Co-founder, CloudBees
- The Architect’s Role in Making Data Useful with Mike Bachman, Principal Global Architect, Dell Boomi and Myles Suer, Head of Global Enterprise Marketing/#CIOChat, Dell
- Why Data Virtualization is So Critical Today with Manish Mehndiratta, Director, Digital Modernization, Sage IT Inc.
- Five Powerful Patterns for Transforming Employee Experience and Productivity with Phil Bowermaster, Principal Product Marketing Manager, Cherwell
- Standards as Code with Andrew Josey, VP, Standards & Certification and David Lounsbury, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, Services, The Open Group
Monday rounded off with a networking and drinks event, allowing attendees to discuss the insights shared throughout the first day of #ogSAT!
Day Two
Day two was jam-packed as well! Speakers provided great information on Data Trust, Supply Chain, Security, and more. During the plenary, Steve Nunn presented Contributor Awards to quite a few Members including David Gilmour with Mundo Cognito for the DPBoK™ Foundation Certification; Stephanie Ramsay with Raytheon for IT4IT™ Reference Architecture; Charlie Betz with St. Thomas University for the DPBoK Standard; James Doss with Digigetitnow for DPBoK Standard Foundation Certification; and Peter Beijer with DXC Technology for the Agile Architecture Framework Draft Standard.
Stephanie Ramsay, Raytheon
James Doss, Digigetitnow
Up next was a very interesting session hosted by Noel Kyle from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, who walked us through how the National Risk Management Center (NRMC) is working to bring together the government and private sector to identify, analyze and manage risks to the nation’s critical infrastructure. Noel was later joined by Teresa MacArthur, O-TTPS Assessment Manager, EWA-Canada, to hold a panel discussion which focused on data trust and integrity.
Another key moment was when Joanne Woytek, Program Manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center presented the Trusted Technology Spotlight video. Produced by NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP), this showcases the features and benefits of utilizing Contract Holders that have earned the O-TTPS Certification.
Andras Szakal with IBM share trends in Supply Chain Security and how standards such as ISO/IEC 20243, Open-CTTP and Open Fair™ can assist in establishing trustworthy partner relationships.
Wrapping up the plenary was a panel ‘Supply Chain to Ensure Data Trust and Integrity’ with David Kaiser (Seagate Technology), Noel, Joanne, Andras, and Teresa, moderated by Steve Nunn.
The Open Trusted Technology Forum/Supply Chain Panel
On Tuesday afternoon, highlight track sessions on Enterprise Architecture and Supply Chain Security included:
- How Data Governance Unlocks the Power of Enterprise Architecture in An Ever-Changing Landscape with Tony Mauro, Director, Consulting Services & Implementation, Enterprise Modeling, Management and Governance, erwin
- Building an Extensible Data Governance Layer – Achieving an Inter-Connected Knowledge Base with Pat O’Sullivan, IT Architect, IBM
- Trends in Supply Chain Security with Andras Szakal, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer IBM U.S. Federal., IBM
- Keys to Successfully Operationalizing Your Enterprise Architecture Program with Robert Cooney, President, eVision Partners, Inc.
- How to Integrate Structured and Non-Structured Data for Analytics Purposes? with Lawrence Liu, Associate Partner, IBM / GBS Cognitive Process Automation
A full house at the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk for The Open Group ‘Making Data Useful’ event!
Day two drew to a close with a beautiful riverboat tour along San Antonio’s famous and vibrant riverwalk, where attendees were taken to Biga on the Banks for a modern fine dining experience!
Day Three
Day three included an interactive Data Science workshop, which provided attendees with new ways to think about and apply data to solve key challenges within their own organizations. Facilitated by Neeraj Madan, Maureen Norton, and George Stark from IBM, the workshop drew upon IBM-specific examples of how Data Science can be used to improve the customer experience.
Neeraj Madan, IBM
The Architecture Forum, Digital Practitioners Work Group, IT4IT™ Forum, Open Trusted Technology Forum, and Security Forum also ran dedicated member-only meetings throughout the event.
We also had a little fun with ‘men’s fancy socks’ – check out #ManFancySocks on Twitter!
Many thanks to our wonderful sponsors and exhibitors; erwin, Mega, AEA, BRM Institute, Van Haren Publishing.
We are also grateful to our dedicated and insightful speakers, attendees, and staff who support these productions!
For ‘real time’ event tweets and photos, please go to Twitter and search #ogSAT; the full agenda can be found here.
We hope to see you at our next quarterly event – The Open Group Mumbai – April 27-30, 2020! #ogBOM
@TheOpenGroup #ogSAT
Loren K. Baynes, Director, Global Marketing Communications, joined The Open Group in 2013 and spearheads corporate marketing initiatives, primarily the website, blog, media relations, and social media. Loren has over 25 years experience in brand marketing and public relations and, prior to The Open Group, was with The Walt Disney Company for over 10 years. Loren holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University. She is based in the US.