Today was the last day of our program here in Cyprus, and while bittersweet feelings were lingering throughout the group, this morning we still got to have some more valuable experiences. We came back to the University of Nicosia today for some more excellent lectures, with one on data science and machine learning, as well as another on blockchain and cryptocurrency. First, we learned about the ever important field of data science from Dr. Trihinas who mentioned that in this age “data is the new oil.” He talked about how even though data is so important for all aspects of the world, it is worthless without efficient ways to structure it and to extract meaning from it. In the context of supply chain management, he talked about the data analysis spectrum, which displays how once data is extracted, it can be transformed to information, then knowledge, then understanding, then ultimately to wisdom that can help make predictions about the future. This was an important concept for me to understand, as it was very helpful in seeing how data is applied in the everyday supply chain scenarios we have studied in this trip. Later on, Dr. Trihinas talked about how computers can learn to accomplish a task without being programed to do it through machine learning, a process that uses many inputs and outputs to create a model in a learning phase, and a testing phase that applies that model to new inputs. This process will be very important for businesses to implement in the coming years to keep up with the high demands placed on them by data from many areas.

Next, Dr. Polemitis, the CEO of the University of Nicosia, spoke to us about Blockchain and cryptocurrency. He started this discussion by talking about databases and their importance, as they seem to run the entire world. It was fascinating to hear him go through nearly every aspect of life and show how a database is involved in some manner. Today, databases are becoming more and more centralized, he said, with fewer larger ones taking most of the control and concentrating their power. Databases are all private, but according to Dr. Polemitis, the blockchain works as a public database where things done on it can not be changed at all. He claimed that this technology is very valuable because just like we need to have public spaces in real life, it is important to have public spaces on the internet. I had been skeptical about the value of blockchain in the past, but this lecture presented it in a way I had never thought about it before. 

After both lectures, we had a free afternoon before our farewell dinner in the evening. I used much of this time to pack and prepare for my upcoming travels, and reflect on how great of a time I have had over these two weeks. I have had so many experiences that would be unimaginable to me before this and met so many great people. I also had some time to go for a run and explore a bit of Nicosia one last time. I found a nice trail and ended up getting a very enjoyable four miles in. I will miss Cyprus greatly but can’t wait for my future adventures in Europe over the next few weeks.