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Dr. Mike Smit knows big data can be intimidating. 鈥淧eople think, 鈥業鈥檓 never going to know how to do big data,鈥欌�� says the assistant professor in the School of Information Management. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not about becoming a data scientist; it鈥檚 about learning how to use big data in a world in which data is so important.鈥�

The pervasiveness and usefulness of big data motivated an upcoming collaboration between Smit and the Faculty of Management鈥檚 Executive Education program. Executive Education delivers certificate-level courses to professionals in business, government and other organizations. In May, Smit, along with Rowe School of Business faculty Dr. Michael Bliemel and Dr. Hossam Ali-Hassan, will teach a three-day intensive course on big data. Deborah Merry, Director of Executive Education, is keen to add their course to the roster. 鈥淲e know that companies are struggling to manage the opportunities and challenges created by big data,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd Dr. Smit and his colleagues are a fine example of the knowledge and expertise we can offer the business community to tackle these challenges.鈥�

Smit is used to teaching the subject to his students, but with courses like the upcoming intensive, he has also begun taking his knowledge to non-academic audiences. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great to get outside the university environment to talk about the research that happens here,鈥� he says. 鈥淓specially in a faculty like ours, there鈥檚 a great focus on how what we鈥檙e doing can help, not only internationally and nationally but regionally.鈥� Last month he gave a lecture to Halifax鈥檚 Chamber of Commerce on big data, a precursor to his Executive Education course. While his listeners initially seemed 鈥渁 little bit nervous鈥� about hearing from a professor, says Smit, 鈥渂y the end they were one of the most engaged audiences I鈥檝e talked to.鈥�

Smit is a strong advocate not just for sharing research with practitioners and helping drive local prosperity, but also for data literacy. 鈥淏ecause data is so pervasive, everyone in an organization needs to be able to work with it. It鈥檚 not something we can outsource,鈥� he notes. So what exactly is big data? 鈥淭here are a lot of definitions,鈥� says Smit. 鈥淭he one that guided us as we put this course together is that data will feel big to you if it goes beyond your current capabilities.鈥� He explains that the idea of data literacy is to extend an organization鈥檚 current capabilities, bringing ever larger data within reach. 鈥淚n general, data literacy is about the ability to collect, evaluate, analyze, share, visualize and make decisions based on data,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n the course we鈥檒l be talking about the tools and practices that will help organizations find the value in data.鈥� The course will also teach 鈥渢he kind of knowledge that you need to make good strategic decisions about how to use and manage data effectively in an organization.鈥�

While some of Executive Education鈥檚 programs are geared towards cohorts鈥攇roups of personnel from the same business or organization鈥攖his course is open to anyone who wants to enrol. Smit says people have already begun to sign up, likely spurred on by the presentation to the Chamber of Commerce. 鈥淭he Chamber itself was very happy with what we鈥檙e bringing to the table,鈥� he notes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very relevant to what they鈥檙e trying to do with local businesses.鈥� It鈥檚 also relevant to the mission of Merry, Executive Education and the Faculty of Management as a whole. As Smit remarks, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a great role for this faculty to play in regional prosperity.鈥�