How to plan a data-centric conference like IASSIST 2017

A data-centric conference is built around the movement and meaning of information, not simply a sequence of talks. Its programme helps researchers, practitioners and policy participants find relevant data, understand analytical methods and work through shared problems. The IASSIST 2017 model offers a practical reference for planning a data-centric conference because it connected technical themes with a broader research conversation.

Held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence from 23 to 26 May 2017, IASSIST 2017 used the theme Data in the Middle: The Common Language of Research. Its plenaries and presentations addressed big data, deep learning, digital agriculture and global food security. The archived programme also records the schedule, plenary information and practical visitor information, giving planners a useful view of how content and conference operations fit together.

An Australian adaptation must account for local scale and behaviour. Delegates may travel between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and regional centres, while hybrid or remote participation can reach partners in Perth, Adelaide and overseas. Planners should preserve the event’s shared purpose while adjusting travel guidance, session timing, supplier choices and accessibility support for the city and audience actually served.

Design choice	Presentation-led meeting	Data-centric meeting	IASSIST 2017 reference
Primary purpose	Exchange isolated findings	Connect data, methods and decisions	A common language for research
Programme unit	Individual presentation	Linked plenaries, sessions and evidence-building activities	Broad technical themes linked across disciplines
Participation	Questions after talks	Structured debate, collaboration and shared tasks	Research reaching across agriculture, data science and food security
Success measure	Registrations and attendance	Learning, useful connections and actionable outputs	Archived programme and plenaries supporting a coherent record
Operational focus	Venue, speakers and slides	Stewardship, consent, inclusion and follow-up	Check-in, transport and local recommendations alongside content

Start with a shared research purpose

Write a concise purpose that explains the research problem, the people expected to contribute and the change the meeting should enable. “Exchange knowledge” is too broad for programme planning. A stronger purpose identifies the relationships the event must reveal, such as how agricultural datasets can inform food-security analysis or how machine-learning methods affect research decisions. This gives committees a reliable filter for sessions, speakers and partnerships.

Map the participants before selecting content. Include domain researchers, data specialists, software engineers, student investigators, industry representatives, public-sector analysts and community or industry stakeholders. Record what each group can contribute and what it needs from the conference. This prevents a technically strong programme from overlooking farm advisers, local organisations or researchers who require accessible language and travel support.

Convert the purpose into observable outcomes. These might include a shared glossary, a documented research agenda, new interdisciplinary partnerships, a set of data-governance principles or a published collection of case studies. Assign an owner, deadline and success measure to each outcome. The result is a programme brief that can guide abstract review, room design, sponsorship and post-event reporting.

Design the programme as a knowledge exchange

Build the schedule from a small number of connected strands rather than accepting unrelated submissions as they arrive. Plenary sessions can establish shared concepts, parallel sessions can examine domain applications, and workshops can turn discussion into prototypes, data-quality checklists or research protocols. Posters and lightning talks provide low-pressure channels for findings that are still developing, while a structured synthesis closes the loop between strands.

The archived IASSIST 2017 programme makes this approach concrete. Reviewing its programme and schedule can help a planner see whether plenaries genuinely anchor the meeting, whether parallel tracks have enough variety and whether practical details receive the same attention as academic content. Treat the archive as evidence of a working design, then adapt its strongest patterns rather than reproducing its assumptions.

Operate a content workflow from the call for abstracts through final publication. Give reviewers explicit criteria tied to the purpose, ask authors to describe datasets, methods, limitations and intended users, and schedule time for revisions after synthesis sessions. Track consent for slides, recordings and contact details. Clear metadata—session theme, audience level, accessibility requirements and related outputs—helps delegates navigate the programme and gives organisers a maintainable structure for later updates.

Engineer participation around evidence

Design the participant journey as a chain: discover, prepare, attend, contribute, connect and continue. A confirmation page can explain themes, travel details and expected behaviour before arrival. A briefing pack can define specialist terms, outline data-handling expectations and suggest background reading. Include the code of conduct, support contacts and any remote-access arrangements in that material so expectations are visible before people commit time and money.

On-site flow should reduce uncertainty at check-in. In Australian cities such as Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, many delegates arrive by train, tram or bus and expect clear connections between registration, catering and accessible rooms. Provide station-to-venue directions, badge pickup times, room changes and nearby meal options. Mobile-friendly signs, staffed help points and printed backups accommodate both visitors and attendees who do not use smartphones.

Participation formats should produce something more durable than animated discussion. Ask each session to generate an annotated diagram, a challenge list, a methods note or a decision requiring further evidence. Give participants roles such as domain reporter, data steward, critical challenger or synthesis editor. Rotate these roles across sessions so power does not stay with senior speakers, and make every contribution visible in the final shared record.

Coordinate Australian logistics and compliance

Create one operational timetable linking registration, catering, speaker briefing, room resets, technical checks and transport contingencies. Include buffer time for questions and informal exchange; densely packed schedules may look efficient but leave no room for useful conversation. Name a control point for delayed flights, AV faults or timetable changes, and give venue, catering and production leads the same version of the plan. Brief staff using realistic scenarios rather than a list of ideal conditions.

Use the local market when it adds value. Australian cities have established providers in event technology, staging, signage, catering and regional transport, but contracts should still compare total cost, service coverage and contingency support. Budget in Australian dollars, identify GST treatment clearly and confirm whether prices include installation, overtime and cancellation fees. For everyday transactions, many attendees prefer card or contactless payment, while cashless systems should still have a manual fallback.

Treat privacy and accessibility as core infrastructure. Assess whether the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles apply to abstract records, attendee details, photographs and session analytics; the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme can be relevant when eligible data is lost or compromised. Marketing messages may also engage the Spam Act 2003. Obtain Australian legal advice for the specific organisation, and pair this with accessible digital content, captioning and physical routes consistent with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 where applicable.

Measure legacy and continuous improvement

Evaluate more than attendance. Use registration and room data to understand participation, then add short post-session checks on relevance, clarity and intent to continue. Track whether cross-disciplinary partners were made, whether workshops produced outputs and whether delegates found the data-sharing guidance credible. Attendance numbers remain useful, especially across cities or time zones, but they do not show whether the programme changed research or practice.

Create a legacy package while the conference is running. Obtain permission for final slides, capture concise session summaries and turn workshops into documented artefacts with named maintainers. A searchable repository can use consistent keywords linking big data, deep learning, digital agriculture and global food security. For a future event, schedule repository checks before the materials become stale and identify which partners will carry each strand forward.

Close the operational and intellectual loops together. A debrief should compare the event against its purpose, document what failed as precisely as what worked and assign owners to follow-ups. Public reports can then show how research communication, partnerships and shared infrastructure evolved after the gathering. The strongest conference leaves behind a coherent evidence base, active relationships and a clear programme for continued collaboration.