Amanda Koepke, SDSS 2024 Program Chair

The 2024 Symposium on Data Science and Statistics, with the theme “Beyond Big Data: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice,” is about highlighting the links between statistics and data science and building an inclusive conference that spans fields.

Statistics and data science use many similar tools and techniques, but differences in terminology and user communities often make the gap between the two seem vast. SDSS shines a light on this intersection of data science and statistics and covers a broad range of interests and applications. SDSS has a place for all data enthusiasts, whether new to the field or a seasoned expert, whether working with small data sets or large.

The symposium—taking place June 4–7 in Richmond, Virginia—includes a program organized into the following six tracks:

• Computational Statistics
• Statistical Data Science (formerly Machine Learning)
• Data Visualization
• Practice and Applications
• Education
• Software and Data Science Technologies

The new Statistical Data Science track further shows the programming committee’s commitment to bridging the gap by having a more inclusive name that invites a wider range of talks.

SDSS will continue its focus on providing networking and career growth opportunities, especially for students and early-career professionals. This includes speed mentoring and organized lunches and events. To further bridge the gap between novice and expert, the SDSS 2024 program committee—which includes representatives from academia, industry, and government—is brainstorming new offerings.

Short courses, lightning talks paired with poster sessions, plenary panels, and refereed presentations will fill the technical program. Refereed abstracts can be submitted until December 15.

As in past years, the symposium is collaborating with the Journal of Data Science, and authors of refereed presentations will have the opportunity to submit their papers for a special issue.