Speakers at the birth centenary celebrations of world renowned statistician ‘Padma Vibhushan’ awardee C.R. Rao called ‘Big Data’ as a treasure trove of opportunities, which is expanding by the day.

The event was organised on a grand scale by Sri Venkateswara University’s Department of Statistics here on Tuesday, where statistical luminaries and top academicians took part.

Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati (IITT) Director K.N. Satyanarayana spoke on the opportunities as well as the challenges confronting the field of Big Data. A civil engineer by qualification, he explained the all-encompassing applications of statistics in various fields of specialisation, including his own. He recalled the contribution of Prof. C.R. Rao to the growth of statistics. He later cut a cake to celebrate the birthday of the living legend and presented distinguished alumni awards to Dravidian University former Vice-Chancellor E. Satyanarayana and JK Tours former Executive Director K. Tirupal Reddy.

Delivering the C.D. Naidu and Arcot Lakshmikanthamma endowment lecture donated by Prof. Rao, Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) former Director B.L.S. Prakash Rao recalled the expansion of Big Data to newer frontiers and the resultant growth of job opportunities. Several institutions have started offering courses in Data Science and Big Data, thus opening new vistas in research as well as employment opportunities in e-commerce.

Indian Society for Probability and Statistics (ISPS) and Operations Research Society of India (ORSI) former president P. Rajasekhara Reddy organised the event.