Abstract: The convergence of big data and machine learning is giving rise to a new computational social science. Professor Pentland will describe some of the insights gained in the areas of collective action, management, and decision science, and how his group is integrating these insights into monitoring and shaping investment in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and formulation of new privacy and security regulations in both the EU and US.

Bio: Dr. Pentland directs the MIT Connection Science and Human Dynamics labs and previously helped create and direct the MIT Media Lab and the Media Lab Asia in India. He is one of the most-cited computational scientists, and Forbes recently declared him one of the “7 most powerful data scientists in the world” along with Google founders and the Chief Technical O cer of the United States. He has received numerous awards and prizes such as the McKinsey Award from Harvard Business Review, the 40th Anniversary of the Internet from DARPA, and the Brandeis Award for work in privacy.