We started the day with a lecture on data science from Dr. Trihinas. He started the lecture with a point that I found to be very interesting. He said that some of the biggest companied today are actually data companies, even though they may not seem like it. Uber, Meta, and AirBnb are all massive (and new) companies in their industries, yet they own no actual capital. Uber owns no taxis and AirBnb owns no rental houses. Instead, their services offer a sophisticated way for consumers to sort through large amounts of data in these fields. This makes me wonder if any other fields are awaiting a similar and large “data company”– perhaps such a company is already growing “under our noses”. However, data science has already been around as a field for around 20 years now… so it may also be the case that most fields are already saturated with players trying a data-oriented approach. I also found the definition of the phrase “data mining” to be useful. I have heard this term before but I did not know what it meant; I now know it means sorting through raw data in search of patterns/trends. My last takeaway was a now clear distinction between traditional data science and machine learning. Data science has traditionally based on algorithms, or “deterministic logic”. I am used to this type of thinking from coding. Machine learning is not deterministic– an AI may produce a different outcome for the same input on different equations. This is because a machine learning software uses a vector approximation. The input to a program is done so in a vector form (a list of numbers, each number has a specific meaning). The program then responds with a vector that is the best match for the input.
We then attended a talk by CEO Polemitis on databases, blockchain, and cyprtocurrency. He started by saying that UNIC was the first university to introduce a class in the topic- cyptro and its technologies are still relatively new and unproven in the eyes of many… but UNIC was correct in that it is still around today. He then went into a discussion regarding the importance of data bases. In his words, the head of IT has more power over the unicersity than he does– the head of IT has the ability to edit data bases. He pointed out that data bases dictate almost everything today, from what dorm one lives in, their grades, or even if they are banned on Uber or Lyft. Overall, CEO Polemitis presented an optimistic outlook on the future of cyptro. Polemitis shared that blockchains are important since they are a form of protection for databases. They work since they are decentralized– not all data is stored in one place so it cannot be tampered with. This is important to cyprto since blockchains essentially make it so cyptro cant be tampered with… if cyptro was stored in a centralized way then any hacker could print money into existence!
Following the lectures we had some free time in Nicosia. I started the free time having lunch at a restuarant named Paul, which was very good. I was very hungry so the meal was definitely much needed! Then I took some time to walk around parts of the old city I hadn’t seen before. I did some gift shopping too, but I won’t go into detail as to not spoil the gifts (their recipients also read my blogs!). I also took some time to visit the park that is in the spot of the old moat. It is really cool that the city was able to repurpose a historic landmark into a facility that preserves value and benefits the modern community!
