The fifth annual Big Data Congress, to be held in Halifax in November, will feature something that none of the previous four have – a focus on specific sectors.

Alternating between Saint John and Halifax, the Congress is an annual celebration of data analytics, and its goal is to help traditional businesses, government and organizations understand how Big Data can assist them. The theme this year is “Ocean & Earth” as the sessions will focus on data applications in ocean technology and agriculture.

The Big Data Alliance of Nova Scotia, which is organizing the event, have opened registration for the Congress, which will take place Nov. 6 to 8. You can purchase tickets here.

Congress Chair Michael Shepherd, who recently retired as the Dean of Computer Science at Dalhousie University, said in an interview he is especially excited about the focus on primary industries at this year’s event.

“They are very important sectors here in the Maritimes,” said Shepherd, who oversaw the creation of Dalhousie’s Institute of Big Data Analytics during his tenure as dean. “Here at Dalhousie, data analytics is very important in the ocean sciences, and we have oceans ventures in the region.

“And the part that I found particularly interesting is that we decided to add agriculture. It turns out there is a lot going on in this space in the region, with vertical farming, precision farming, and drone technologies.”

He added that a central theme will be food security, which is important in both sectors.

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Shepherd is not slowing down in retirement. He still has an office at Dal and is involved with the Big Data Alliance. And he’s been spending a lot of time in India, where he is working with the MYRA School of Business in Karnataka, where he has helped to set up a centre of excellence in data analytics. He’s also helping to organize the school’s InfoVision 2018 conference, which will focus on next-generation analytics.

For now, his focus is on the upcoming BDC, which he said will likely attract about 400 to 500 delegates. Since T4G President Geoff Flood launched the Congress in Saint John in 2012 it has always sought to bring together the tech community and potential end-users of data analytics technology. This year, it’s hoping for end users from the oceans and agriculture sectors.

“We’re very specifically looking at and designing the program around how people in these two sectors can use data to improve their bottom lines,” said Shepherd.

One of the keynote speakers fits squarely into this theme. Tim o’Shea is the founder and CEO of San Francisco-based CleanFish, which works at creating market solutions to the crises of our seas. The other keynote is American sociobiologist Rebecca Costa, the author of bestselling book The Watchman’s Rattle: A Radical New Theory of Collapse.

Shepherd is hoping for a strong turnout from the traditional business community, members of which are starting to understand they produce data that has an economic value.

“Businesses have started to realize that they are sitting on a very valuable asset in the data they have,” said Shepherd. “They’re now trying to figure out how to leverage that asset and improve their bottom line.”

Disclaimer: The Big Data Congress is a client of Entrevestor.