March 27, 2017 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – Summit Consulting is proud to announce that it is partnering for the third year with the University of Maryland (UMD) to host the Washington, DC-area ASA DataFest™ on April 7-9, 2017.
Summit's headquarters in downtown Washington, DC, will be the site of the weekend-long competition, which encourages undergraduate students in economics, statistics, mathematics, and related subjects to find new and innovative ways of interpreting and using a single dataset.
Summit has held a long-standing sponsorship of the yearly competition, organized at its flagship campus, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), by Dr. Robert Gould. Since 2011, Summit staff have volunteered as VIP Consultants for the competing students, providing them with guidance in methodologies and programming, as needed.
At the beginning of the competition, teams are given access to the same data but encouraged to brainstorm new ways to use it. At the conclusion of the event, teams are given one minute to present their findings. Judges select finalists to give brief presentations for awards in categories such as best insight, best visual, and best use of external data.
“We are thrilled to host the third DC DataFest this spring,” says Summit Chief of Corporate Development Jennifer Folsom. “When we saw Glassdoor’s report ranking ‘data scientist’ as the #1 Best Job in America for 2016, we were not surprised. Every day we see the public policy impact of innovative technical approaches to big data sets. We are excited to help foster the development of a new generation of data scientists.”
ASA DataFest™ is held on multiple other college campuses throughout the United States, including Purdue, U. Mass, Penn State, Emory, and Duke. This year’s event is sponsored by the American Statistical Association. Other sponsors of the DC-area event include Abt Associates, Google, University of Maryland – College of Information Studies, the DC Chapter of American Association for Public Opinion Research (DC-AAPOR), and MITRE
When UMD proposed to hold the event locally, Summit was a natural choice. “I have interacted with Summit for years, and love how they engage in professional development at all levels,” says Dr. Frauke Kreuter, a Professor in the UMD Joint Program in Survey Methodology (JPSM) who also regularly serves as a Subject Matter Expert in survey methodology for Summit engagements. The company’s multi-faceted relationship with the university also includes a Summit-sponsored fellowship in UMD’s JPSM for staff professional development.
To keep up with DC’s DataFest on Twitter, use #DCDataFest or follow @DCDataFest on Twitter for regular updates.
Contact: Jennifer Folsom, 202.407.8300, jennifer.folsom@summitllc.us
About Summit
Founded in 2003, Summit is a Washington, D.C.-based specialized analytics-advisory firm that guides Federal agencies, financial institutions, and litigators as they decode their most complex analytical challenges. Summit’s staff of Economists, Econometricians, and Research Scientists use quantitative techniques to assist our clients as they score and model risk, evaluate program performance, forecast cash flows, and estimate economic damage. At Summit, we solve complex analytical challenges with unparalleled customer service and extensive client collaboration. The solutions are complete only when they are understood by our clients and solve their problems. Summit’s Principals, Academics, and Research Scientists are recognized experts in their fields, and they are capable of leading large and small solution teams. Summit: complexity simplified. For more information, please visit www.summitllc.us.