Unruly Data Make for a Bad Hair Day

Traditional structured database tools are limiting because they require pre-defined structures and fields. Chris Feola, president of xextPression and named one of the 50 most influential people in new media by Online Journalism Review, describes the ins-and-outs of information overload in the computer culture. In particular, he will discuss imposing order of data to extract meaningful information from it. Light refreshments will be provided. Admission is free but donations to defray costs are appreciated.

In essence, a business or institutuion has to know everything about its data and its intended use before technology can be applied. Structured databases’ strengths are in dealing with large transaction systems where transactions are consistent – transaction after transaction, day after day (i.e., data that fit easily within defined fields), but they rapidly break down when dealing with free-form content and/or changing data relationships.

Most estimates indicate 80% of all data are unstructured in nature – meaning it does not follow any pre-defined structure or standards, making it difficult to use. Either it will not fit within the defined structures of a traditional database, or it is changing too quickly to be harnessed. nextPression’s technology and patents are based on data-centric architectures. Data entities are formed and managed in an unstructured state; structure is only added as information is extracted during the query process, allowing new and unplanned structures to be imposed on existing data. Feola will present his views on allowing new and unplanned structures to be imposed on existing data.

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Chris Feola is nextPression’s President. His background and experience have always been at the intersection of information and technology. He has been granted two patents, and has an additional 10 pending. He has led IT teams to Number 13 on the InfoWorld 100; the 2002 The RealWare Award – Best Enterprise Content Management Application; an Honorable Mention in the 2003 CIO Magazine Enterprise Value Awards, recognizing contribution to business value and results; among other awards. He was the founding director of The Media Center at American Press Institute, one of the industry’s major think tanks, and taught at the graduate level at Columbia and Indiana universities, among others. Previous positions include Vice President/Technology, Belo Interactive, and Executive Vice President/CIO of askSam Systems. Technology industry leadership positions include membership on the CIO Magazine Executive Programs Advisory Board; Editor, The Society for Information Management’s SIMNews; member, STARTech Early Ventures Industry Advisor; chairman, Marketing Committee, SIMPosium 2006; and co-chair, program committee, Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter, Society of Information Management.

Feola was named one of the 50 most influential people in new media by Online Journalism Review. He has appeared as a new media expert on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and Talk of the Nation on NPR, and been written up in Business 2.0 and The New York Times.

He has been a featured speaker at Medios Interactivos in Costa Rica; hosted the technology day for Editor & Publisher Interactive Newspapers in Seattle and Atlanta; hosted the technology panels for Connections; addressed a joint session of the World Newspaper Congress and the World Editors Forum in Kobe, Japan; and hosted seven MediaCenter conferences.

He has written about technology regularly for The Cole Papers, NewsInc, Presstime and the NAA’s TechNews magazine.

He was a member of the Board of Advisors for the University of Miami, Ohio, Center for Interactive Media, and sits on the Board of Visitors for the New Media Program at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis. He sat on the Newspaper Association of America Technology Committee.

Feola has been a member of the adjunct faculty at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, the IUPUI School of Journalism, and Miami (Ohio) journalism department, teaching new media and computer-assisted reporting. He has worked at seven newspapers in 18 states and five countries on a couple of continents, including a two-year stint covering Asia as a foreign correspondent for Stars & Stripes. He has more than 4,000 published articles to his credit. He lives in Grapevine, Texas with his wife, two daughters, one son and rather more luck than he deserves.