Boston’s new hack/reduce collaborative is looking for big data hackers. The goal of this non-profit organization is to foster a bigger, um, big data community in the Cambridge-Boston nexus. Applications to join are due Oct. 14.
“We want to build a community and innovation around big data to make Boston a leader there,” founding executive director Abby Fichtner told me. Hackers with expertise in biotech, medical devices, consumer web, energy, IT, telecommunications, music and art are all welcome to apply.
Boston locals see big data as a way to recapture some the high-tech glory that faded after the minicomputer era, as the center of gravity moved to Silicon Valley and Seattle. Now the plan is to capitalize both on experienced veterans left from Boston’s booming minicomputer years and young talent from area colleges to rebuild that high-tech hub in a big data mold.
Hack/reduce was founded this summer with some state funding and support from Chris Lynch, former president of Vertica Systems, a local big data company now owned by by HP. The group just moved into a historic building in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. Fichtner, formerly startup evangelist for Microsoft’s New England Research & Development (NERD) center, came aboard as the hacker space launched in August.
Feature photo courtesy of Flickr user kirinqueen.
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