The Big Data Analytics Research Center at Soochow University is dedicated to industry-academia collaborations and research projects in big data analytics, as well as organizing practical courses and lectures on data analysis and visualization. In light of the prevalence of big data analytics internationally, we aim to foster international exchange to enhance our university's data analysis capabilities, broaden our students' reach in global big data analytics, and simultaneously strengthen our faculty and students' understanding of practical applications and analytical methods in data analysis. This October (2017), the center is honored to invite Dr. Lim Woo Lip, recipient of the 2017 Singapore Computer Society IT Leader Award, to visit Soochow University from Monday, October 16th, to Friday, October 20th, for a five-day professional consultation, lecture series, and technical exchange.
Dr. Lim Woo Lip is currently the Vice President of Big Data and Cybersecurity at StarHub Ltd., Singapore's second-largest telecommunications group, which is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) with a current market capitalization of S$4.624 billion (as of September 25, 2017). During his visit to Taiwan, Dr. Lim delivered two public lectures at both the Downtown Campus and the Wai-Shuang-Hsi Campus, engaging in in-depth discussions with faculty members, students from the College of Big Data and the Graduate Institute, sharing his extensive practical experience, and exchanging views on the future development of big data.
To facilitate participation for faculty and students from both campuses of Soochow University, the center arranged for Dr. Lim to deliver lectures at both locations. The first lecture was held on Tuesday, October 17, 2016, at 10:00 AM in Conference Room 5211, Downtown Campus, Soochow University. The second lecture took place on Wednesday, October 18, 2016, at 3:00 PM in Puren Hall, Wai-Shuang-Hsi Campus, Soochow University, with the topic "An Evolution Powered by Data." A total of 184 attendees participated across both sessions, including 171 students and 13 faculty and staff members. Dr. Lim shared his practical experience in big data and cybersecurity communication technology, drawing from his 25 years at the Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies (CSIT) in the Ministry of Defence of Singapore, and his years at StarHub Ltd.'s Big Data and Cybersecurity department. This included insights into understanding users' daily activities and interests through telecommunications data, and even inferring family composition from digital set-top boxes installed in homes. Naturally, by analyzing this big data, Dr. Lim has helped the Singaporean government solve numerous practical challenges, such as predicting and mitigating traffic congestion (or traffic accidents) and preventing infectious diseases. Dr. Lim also presented related data simulation charts for the faculty and students present. The visual representation of data garnered a highly positive response from the students. Through Dr. Lim's insightful data analysis and his sharing of practical experience in telecommunications data applications, the students (especially those from the College of Big Data) were able to see how the academic content they learn in school is closely related to everyday life. These two lectures attracted numerous students and professors, who actively engaged in discussions and exchanged opinions on related topics after the sessions, thereby broadening the international perspective of our students.