Information Quality

John Talburt and Yinle Zhou Present at ECCMA Data Quality Solutions Summit

jrt5 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:18:27 +0000

Dr. John R. Talburt, UALR Professor of Information Science, and Yinle Zhou, doctoral candidate in the UALR Integrated Computing PhD program, gave presentations at the 12th Annual Data Quality Solutions Summit sponsored by the Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) held October 25-27, 2011 in Tannersville, PA. Dr. Talburt introduced the new Information Quality Certified Professional (IQCP) credential developed by the International Association for Information and Data Quality (IAIDQ) and also gave an overview of the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program. Ms. Zhou's presentation, "OYSTER: An Open Source Tool for Master Data Management," discussed the new open source platform being developed by the UALR Center for Advanced Research in Entity Resolution and Information Quality (ERIQ).

Dr. Isaac Osesina Wins 2011 Ballou & Pazer IQ Dissertation Award

jrt5 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:00:54 +0000

Dr. Isaac Osesina, a UALR Integrated Computing PhD graduate and post-doctoral research associate, has been named as one of two winners of the 2011 Ballou & Pazer Information Quality Dissertation Award. The other winner named by committee for the 2011 Award is Dr. Gregory Hill, a graduate from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Osesina's research is in the area of information retrieval from unstructured textual information and his dissertation was titled "A Data-Intensive Approach to Named Entity Recognition Using Domain and Language Independent Methods." In addition to receiving cash awards, the winners will also be invited to submit a manuscript to the ACM Journal of Data and Information Quality.

This is the second consecutive year that graduates from the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program have won this prestigious award. The 2011 Ballou & Pazer Dissertation winners were Dr. Neal Gibson and Dr. Greg Holland, both graduates of the UALR IQ program.

John Talburt Represents UALR IQ Program in George Mason University Lecture Series

jrt5 — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:51:07 +0000

The Intelligence and Security Research Center (ISRC) at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, is sponsoring an executive lecture series on "Big Data Intelligence Systems: Leadership and Operation." The series features a number of experts from a broad range of backgrounds including intelligence analysis, industry executives, consultants, and educators. Dr. John R. Talburt, Director of the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program delivered a talk titled "Information Quality: Challenges and Opportunities of Big Data and HPC" at the session on October 3, 2011. Dr. Talburt emphasized that even though the age of big data and HPC has opened the door to new data-intensive approaches to problem solving, the underlying need to understand the quality of the information and its impact on the use of the information has not changed. The key principles of information quality are still to manage information as product, quantify and communicate the value of the use of the information, and understand and manage the information life cycle. Dr. Talburt observed that we are now beginning to see a paradigm shift in data management. The traditional approach of first creating a model, then trying to make the data fit the model is undergoing a reversal to first gathering and indexing data, then creating a model (or models) for each application. He also noted that increasing reliance on data-driven solutions has led many organization to create Chief Data Officer role to better understand information value, managing information as product, and to champion information quality.

UALR Faculty and Students Well-Represented in New IQ Certification

jrt5 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:49:54 +0000

This summer, the International Association for Information and Data Quality (IAIDQ) issued the first 37 professional certifications for practitioners in the field of information and data quality. The new credential called the Information Quality Certified Professional (IQCP) is earned by a combination of work experience, passing an examination over information quality knowledge and skills, and subscribing to the IAIDQ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Nine of 37 first-in-the-world certificate holders are affiliated with the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program, either as faculty members, students, or program graduates.

The nine people with ties to the UALR IQ program who are among the first in the world to achieve the IAIDQ professional certification are:

Dr. Elizabeth Pierce, chair of the UALR Information Science Department.
Dr. John Talburt, UALR professor and Acxiom chair of information quality.
Reed Petty, a Federal Express employee who is pursuing his Ph.D.
Brian Blake, an Acxiom associate who is pursuing his Ph.D.
Eric Nielsen, who received his MSIQ degree at UALR in 2010 and works for Aera Energy LLC in Bakersfield, Calif.
Greg Holland, who received his Ph.D. in 2010 and works for the Arkansas Department of Education.
Funso Kumolu, who received his MSIQ degree in 2010 and works for McKesson in Dallas, Texas, a leading health care IT solutions provider and medical supply distributor.
Val Pushkarev, who received his MISQ degree in 2009 and works for the Arkansas Department of Education.
Guilherme Rocha, who is in the MSIQ program and owner of System Marketing in São Paulo, Brazil.

UALR is the only university in the U.S. offering graduate degrees in information quality, including a graduate certificate in information quality, a M.S. in information quality, and a Ph.D. in integrated computing with an emphasis in information quality.

In addition to educating students on the UALR campus, the program reaches out to students across the U.S. and internationally through distance education, including students in Brazil, Iceland, Finland, and South Africa.

Jack Olson Guest Lecturer at UALR

jrt5 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:37:26 +0000

Jack E. Olson, acknowledged data quality expert and author of the book Data Quality: The Accuracy Dimension (Morgan Kaufmann, 2003), was a guest lecturer for the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program. On Thursday, Sept 29, 2011, Jack gave a lecture on Data Profiling and its relation to Data Governance to the Information Quality Policy and Strategy class. Jack is acknowledged as the inventor of data profiling, and his Data Quality book is one of the references used in the development of questions for the Information Quality Certified Profession examination released last summer by the International Association for Information and Data Quality (IAIDQ). On Friday, Sept 30, 2011, he was the seminar speaker for Integrated Computing PhD students talking about his interest in database archiving as documented in his most recent book Database Archiving: How to Keep Lots of Data for a Very Long Time (Morgan Kaufmann, 2009).

In his early career, Jack worked as a programmer and system architect for IBM working on many their most successful systems including CICS, AIX, IMS, and DB2. After 17 year with IBM he left to begin working for a series of successful startup companies including EVOKE Software, NEON Enterprise Software, and BMC Software. Since 2009, Jack has been the CEO of SvalTech where he continues to pursue his interest in database archiving technology and his collaboration with the MIT Information Quality Program's in the development and promotion of the role of Chief Data Officer (CDO).

For more information on the UALR Information Quality Graduate program visit http://ualr.edu/informationquality

For more information on SvalTech visit http://svaltech.com/

For more information on the IAIDQ and IQCP certification visit http://www.iaidq.org/

Jack's lecture on Data Profiling was webcast and recorded. If you are interested in viewing his recorded lecture, please contact John Talburt, the UALR IQ program coordinator (jrtalburt@ualr.edu), for access to the presentation archive.

UALR IQ Graduate Program Honors 12 Students

kkd2 — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:17:01 +0000

The Information Quality Graduate Program at University of Arkansas at Little Rock honored 12 of its students at the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology Award Ceremony held on May 6, 2011, at the new Engineering and Information Technology Building. The awards recognized students who demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, research, and service during 2010-2011 Academic Year.

Three of the awards went to students in the Information Quality Track of the Integrated Computing PhD program including Dr. Isaac Osesina as the Outstanding Graduate, Ahmed, Abu-Halimeh for his service to the program, and Yinle Zhou for her achievements in research.

Dinah Mande and Nishav Mainali were honored as the Outstanding Graduates from the MSIQ Program. In addition, graduates recognized for their academic achievement in the MSIQ Program included Cecilia Bartley, Nishav Mainali, Robert McGough, Kamilia Messaoudi, Soukaina Messaoudi, Eric Nielsen, Hailin Tang, and Linfang Yang.

UALR is the only US University to offer graduate degrees in Information Quality. For more information on the UALR IQ program and the degrees offered visit: http://ualr.edu/informationquality .

Dinah Mande Re-elected President IAIDQ Student Chapter

kkd2 — Tue, 03 May 2011 03:09:48 +0000

The International Association for Information and Data Quality (IAIDQ) (http://www.iaidq.org) Little Rock Student Chapter met on February 18, 2011 to hold its second elections. The newly elected officers assumed their position related duties on March 31, 2011.

Dinah Mande was reelected as an IAIDQ Little Rock Student Chapter President. Dinah expressed her intent to work as a group towards a common goal: "This year, we are going to focus on being motivated because that’s what will get us going. Motivation is like food for the brain, we cannot get enough in one sitting. We are going to work as a group, one step at a time and together we can reach our goal for this year”. Dinah shared some of her visions for 2011 which included sponsoring an Information Quality Library, IAIDQ Little Rock Student Chapter Logo Competition and fund raising efforts to grow the Little Rock Chapter.

The new officers included Candice Murphy who assumed the duties of a Vice President, Melody Penning who assumed the duties of a Treasurer and Corey Wilton who was elected for the position of a Secretary.

UALR has the only student chapter of IAIDQ international organization and is starting its second year of service to the students and faculty in the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program. (http://ualr.edu/informationquality)

ICIQ-2011 Announces Call for Papers

kkd2 — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:38:40 +0000

The 16th International Conference on Information Quality (ICIQ-2011) will be hosted by the School of Computer & Science at the University of South Australia (UniSA) on November 18 - 20, 2011 in Adelaide, Australia. The 2011 conference theme is “Organizational Value through Quality Information”. The conference program will include tracks for research papers, practice-oriented papers, poster sessions, and new this year a doctoral consortium.

The deadline for paper submissions is July 1, 2011. Accepted papers will compete for the Stuart E. Madnick IQ Best Paper Award and a prize of $1000 (US). For more information regarding the submission process and ICIQ-2011 events, visit the conference website at http://iciq2011.unisa.edu.au

The 15th International Conference on Information Quality (ICIQ-2010) was hosted by the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). The 2012 ICIQ is scheduled to be held in Paris, France, and in 2013, ICIQ will return to UALR.

UALR is the only US university to offer graduate degrees in Information Quality. For more information on the UALR IQ program and the degrees offered visit: http://ualr.edu/informationquality .

UALR Participates in First Data Quality Conference in South Africa

jrt5 — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:54:07 +0000

The first Data Quality conference in South Africa was held March 23-24, 2011 at the South African Reserve Bank in Pretoria, South Africa. Sponsored by the Enhancing Strategic Information (ESI) Project the conference attracted more than 100 attendees to discuss data quality standards and measures, tools and methodologies, quality improvement, and data use and dissemination. Started in 2008, the ESI Project is a collaboration among USAID, John Snow, Inc., Khulisa Management Services, and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine aimed at improving the quality of HIV/AIDS data and monitoring and evaluating HIV/AIDS program to better inform government policy in the southern regions of Africa. Dr. John Talburt, Graduate Coordinator for the UALR Information Quality Graduate Program gave the invited keynote address "The Strategic Advantage of Information Quality" at the conference opening on March 23rd.

Information Quality Moves to the Integrated Computing PhD Program

kkd2 — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:58:00 +0000

The Information Quality PhD Track has moved from the Applied Science PhD Program to the new Integrated Computing PhD Program. The Integrated Computing PhD Program enrolled its first students in the fall of 2010 and is housed in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology. It was created to provide a sharper focus on studies on the computing disciplines.

Prior to 2010, the PhD degree offered by the Department of Applied Science had seven emphasis areas: Applied Biosciences, Applied Chemistry, Applied Computing, Applied Physics, Computational Science, Information Quality, and Engineering Science and Systems. The Information Quality and Applied Computing Tracks have moved from the Applied Science to join the Integrated Computing Program to promote strong multidisciplinary collaborations across several computing disciplines. Faculty for the Integrated Computing Program are drawn from the departments of Computer Science, Information Science, and Systems Engineering.

The Information Quality Track focuses on the theory, principles, models, and techniques for maximizing the value of an organization's information assets and producing information products that meet customer expectations. Information Quality, which also includes data governance and master data management, is becoming an increasingly challenging task as organizations struggle with such issues as data architecture, identity resolution, data protection, and privacy.

To find out more about the Information Quality Track in the Integrated Computing PhD Program, visit http://ualr.edu/informationquality/phd/phd-curricullum/