Our time in Cyprus has unfortunately come to an end and I am not ready to go home! Today we got to go back to the University of Nicosia for a lecture on data science and block chains. Dr. Demetris Trihinas gave us a very good introduction to data science. He discussed how data has become the new oil due to everything being on the internet these days. However, data is useless in its raw form. That is why the field of data science is so important. Once data is collected, it has to be structured into a model in order to extract helpful information. The order to analyzing data is descriptive analysis, diagnostic analysis, predictive analysis, and prescriptive analysis. After learning from past data and studying new trends, you are able to create an educated guess about the new patterns. He also talked about it is important the model is not too perfect. If it fits the model too well, (meaning it has been overfit) the model is no longer learning, but just memorizing the data. This is why it is important to focus on evaluating and retraining the models used. I think that these new technologies and machines are impressive and important because the world has become so digitalized, it is beneficial for companies to have good ways to analyze their data.

Out next lecture was given by CEO Polemitis. He discussed the concentration of power in companies and how that affects blockchains and databases. He pointed out how 40 years ago he would be watching a local Cyprus broadcast and someone in the US would be watching ABC. However, now everyone can watch Netflix. Another example is Uber which now gives about 80% of the rides in New York. Both companies require you to make an account and enter their system. They have cut out most of the competition and if you end up getting band from the Uber app, then it will be incredibly hard to find another ride. This means that the databases are getting fewer and bigger. He believes it is important to have public spaces online so that there isn’t just one person in charge and people don’t need one companies permission to access data.

For our last afternoon, we were given a few hours of free time. We decided to walk around to enjoy the beautiful weather and have a delicious lunch. I will miss getting to see my friends everyday and I will also miss this absolutely delicious food. We have our goodbye dinner tonight which I am excited for, because I always enjoy the big group dinners. And our wonderful tour guide is coming to join us! I have enjoyed experiencing this country and getting the opportunity to visit so many great companies!