[Kevin Praet (Adm)]

Hello Data Science Community Members,

I hope all is well! We are one week away from our September (2022) Data Science Community Conversation and want to get you excited about the session taking place. On Tuesday, September 20th at 1:00 PM CT, we’ll be joined by the following speakers who will be leading a roundtable themed discussion around,“Org Structure for Data Science Departments: Should Data Science Roll Up Under IT or the Business?”

– Natalie Weed, Enterprise Analytics Manager (Black Hills Energy)

– Norv Clontz, Director of Data Science Innovation (Duke Energy)

– Robert (Bob) Dainauski, Sr. Analyst + Data Science Manager (PPL)

– Ben Spanswick, Data Science Manager (PPL)

Learn more about this session and our speakers below!

Session Description:

Data Scientist is an IT enabled job. Like most IT jobs focus on helping their organization use a particular technology, data scientists focus on helping their organization use data. Data scientists are experts in handling large amounts of data and are responsible for deriving business value. Some organizations establish a formal data science center of excellence to house a centralized team. The data science team is managed centrally but members are assigned to work with specific business operations and are accountable for helping those units reach their objectives to make data-driven decisions. Data science could be part of technology, but they also must work very closely with business; product and analytics.

With that said, Where should data scientists or data science departments report? Is it under IT or is it under the business? During this lively roundtable discussion, we will have a mix of participants from both IT and the business from Black Hills Energy, Duke Energy, and PPL sharing their opinions on this engaging topic. Join us to share your opinions and org structure examples to enhance the conversation during this roundtable.

Speaker: Natalie Weed, Enterprise Analytics Manager (Black Hills Energy)

Natalie Weed is the Enterprise Analytics Manager over the data science team at Black Hills Energy. She has 12+ years in various IT roles and industries and loves being part of advancing analytics across the company and creating a data driven culture. 

Speaker: Norv Clontz, Director of Data Science Innovation (Duke Energy)

Norv Clontz is the Director of Data Science Innovation at Duke Energy, where he is responsible for leading advanced analytics initiatives and developing internal competency in emerging areas such as deep learning for video & image analytics and natural language processing. His previous experience at the utility includes roles in Grid Solutions, Customer Insights, Telecoms, Customer PMO, and Natural Gas. Prior to joining Duke Energy, Norv led the business analytics practice at a management and IT consulting firm. He has led consulting engagements for Fortune 500 clients around the world in industries such as utilities, oil & gas, automotive, retail, and financial services. Norv brings over two decades of strategy and implementation experience in data science, system implementation, and channel analysis. Norv earned a B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. from the University of South Carolina. He also holds a PMP certification. 

Speaker: Robert (Bob) Dainauski, Sr. Analyst + Data Science Manager (PPL)

Bob Dainauski has a background in computer science with an MBA. He has spent 32 years in the Utility field, most of it spent in computer programming and analytics. Bob’s most recent 13 years focused on system reliability, including optimizing asset investments, optimizing use and placement of protective devices, circuit optimization, and weather-based damage prediction. He is interested in machine learning with experience primarily in R but also some Python. He has built and implemented a fully automated weather damage prediction dashboard using an ensemble of 9 individual R and Python machine learning models. Bob’s current role is Business Operations Analyst at PPL.

Speaker: Ben Spanswick, Data Science Manager (PPL)

Ben Spanswick is the Manager of Data Science and Machine Learning at PPL Corp and specializes in growing impactful Data Science Teams. Ben grew the team from about three analysts to a team of 12+ data scientists supporting multiple business lines across three OpCo’s. Prior to his time at PPL, Ben was the Lead Data Scientist responsible for establishing the Data Science Center of Excellence at the FBI. In total, Mr. Spanswick has spent 12 years in various data-centric roles. He holds B.S. in Risk Analytics from The Pennsylvania State University, and a M.S. in Data Science from Southern Methodist University.  

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A calendar placeholder for this community conversation was sent out via my alternate email address (kpraet@sg.utilityanalytics.com). I’ve noticed these invites can sometimes be flagged as spam, so please check your junk folders if you’re not seeing right away. For your convenience I have also attached the placeholder to this message as an easy download. If you are not seeing a placeholder on your calendar for Tuesday, September 20 at 1:00 PM CT, or are having trouble downloading the placeholder from this message, please reach back out to me so I can be sure you are forwarded the invite an alternate way.

Thanks and I look forward to connecting next week!

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Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-01-2022 10:06
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Upcoming September (2022) Community Conversation

Hello Data Science Community Members,

I hope all is well! With September just kicking off, I wanted to reach out and get you excited for our September (2022) Data Science Community Conversation. On Tuesday, September 20th at 1:00 PM CT, we’ll be joined by the following speakers who will be leading a roundtable themed discussion around,“Org Structure for Data Science Departments: Should Data Science Roll Up Under IT or the Business?”

– Natalie Weed, Enterprise Analytics Manager (Black Hills Energy)

– Norv Clontz, Director of Data Science Innovation (Duke Energy)

– Robert (Bob) Dainauski, Sr. Analyst + Data Science Manager (PPL)

– Ben Spanswick, Data Science Manager (PPL)

I’ll be providing more information on this session, including our Microsoft Teams credentials, one week prior to our meeting but you can always learn more about each of our upcoming Community Conversations on our Events Page HERE.

If you have any questions in the meantime please reach out to me at kpraet@utilityanalytics.com.

 

Thanks!

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Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
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