Today we spent our time at the University of Nicosia. We listened to three lectures. The first lecture covered blockchain. I learned that all data have TTP and SPOF, which is a trusted third party and a single point of failure. Databases will always lead to people, however public databases are databases with not just one person. In the 1990’s the United States passed legislation to use an e-signature by checking a box. Blockchain is still unfamiliar to me, but I was fortunate enough to hear from Antonis Polemitis.
After our blockchain we listened to supply chain and forecasting. The professor was funny, there was some funny issues with technology but it made things interesting. I learned accurate forecasting minimizes costs, manage risks, and respond quickly to changes in customer demand. 44% of businesses roughly or never use forecasting which was surprising to me because that is a large portion of businesses.
After our supply chain and forecasting, we listened to data science. I found this the most interesting professor. I liked the way he presented and I was able to comprehend the most during this lecture. He told us that humans are data generators which makes sense because everything we do on the internet becomes data. Data is useless unless you know how to organize it though. When he said that he reminded me of accounting, because accounting is implemented to organize businesses. Accounting is vital to business. Overall I learned a lot from the teachers and I am grateful I was given this opportunity.
After our lectures we had some lunch at The Block and then headed to the UNIC Pharmacy lab. We met with three different people where they showed us a machine that compressed powder into tablets, machines that tested the hardness and distillation time. The last person we spoke with talked to us about the uses for things like scorpion venom and sea cucumber. He told us that you could spray the venom onto cancer cells and it would illuminate the cells. I found that so fascinating. This visit opened my mind up the most.
