Data scientists need to earn trust

They’re a hot commodity in high demand. They’re the cool kids who know how to get down and dirty with the big data. They’re the data scientists, the folks who give meaning to, well, just about any information you can collect. But what if their results are flawed? What if they don’t really have all the data needed to draw correct conclusions? This week’s lead Searchlight item comes from the blog of data scientist Pete Warden who believes it’s high time his work, and that of his peers, faced a little more scrutiny. Everyone from academics to “real scientists” to data gatekeepers to you (yes, you!) has a role they can play to make data analysis more trustworthy. Also this week: Google’s latest gadget is one humdinger of a dongle, the potential perils of Bring Your Own Cloud and more.