We're seeing a revolution in the way the Internet has transformed the way we communicate and interact with each other. In the span of 15 years companies like Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Skype, eBay, and Amazon have forever changed the way we behave. All of these companies have proven themselves as innovators with cutting edge developments. As the companies that form the basis for these technologies grow, what can we learn about them and their approach to science and vice versa?

Short bio:

Dr. DJ Patil is currently a Data Scientist in Residence at Greylock Partners.

He has held a variety of roles in Academia, Industry, and Government. These include Chief Scientist, Chief Security Officer and Head of Analytics and Data Product Teams at the LinkedIn Corporation. Additionally he has held a number of roles at Skype, PayPal, and eBay. He is known for co-coining the term Data Scientist. In 2011 he was ranked in Forbes Data Scientist list as #2 behind Larry Page. In 2012 he along with other notable "Gen Fluxers" were featured on the cover of Fast Company.

As a member of the faculty at the University of Maryland, his research focused on nonlinear dynamcis and chaos theory and he helped start a major research initiative on numerical weather prediction.

As an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow for the Department of Defense, Dr. Patil directed new efforts to leverage social network analysis and the melding of computational and social sciences to anticipate emerging threats to the US. He has also co-chaired a major review of US efforts to prevent bioweapons proliferation in Central Asia and co-founded the Iraqi Virtual Science Library (IVSL).

More details can be found on his LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dpatil and can be followed on twitter @dpatil.