Greg Skibiski

Last updated

Greg Skibiski
Greg Skibiski Keynote Speaker MIT $100k Business Plan Pitch Competition 125.jpg
Born1973or1974(age 50) [1]
Northampton, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Known forFounder of Thasos Group, Founder of Sense Networks

Gregory Roman Skibiski (born 1973) is an American entrepreneur. Skibiski founded Thasos Group, [2] an artificial-intelligence-based data analytics firm that uses real-time locations from mobile phones worldwide to provide information for the financial services industry. Skibiski was also the Founder [3] [4] and former Chairman & CEO of Sense Networks, a New York City based company focused on analyzing big data from mobile phones and carrier networks. [1] [5] [6] [7] [8] Skibiski is named lead [9] inventor on three patent applications for analyzing emerging sensor data streams from mobile phones, culminating in the Macrosense, Citysense CitySense, and Cabsense None products. [10]

Contents

Citysense was named by ReadWriteWeb (in The New York Times) as "Top 10 Internet of Things Products of 2009". [11] Sense Networks was called "The Next Google" on the cover of Newsweek. [12] In a 2018 profile article on Skibiski, The Wall Street Journal stated that "Thasos is at the vanguard of companies trying to help traders get ahead of stock moves [..] using so-called alternative data". [13]

Life and career

Originally from Northampton, Massachusetts, Skibiski attended the Williston Northampton School from 1985 through 1991. [14] He received his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University in 1996 and his MBA from HEC Paris in 2006. [15] Skibiski was also one of the first employees at BackWeb Technologies, a Tel Aviv based internet infrastructure software company that had a successful NASDAQ IPO in 1999. [16]

Several years later, Skibiski approached Alex "Sandy" Pentland (Head of Human Dynamics Research at the MIT Media Lab) with the idea that large amounts of location data being collected by mobile phones and GPS devices could be useful to economists. [17] [18] [19] [20] Technology to do that analysis did not exist at the time. [21]

Skibiski's original theory was that analyzing large amounts of location data from mobile phones and vehicles would provide value to the financial services and retail industries, enabling "an entirely new business model for location-based services" based on monetizing macro trends in spending and sentiment. [22] [23] For retailers, Skibiski hoped to be able to provide information ranging from additional places their customers shop to how far people travel to get to their stores. He further envisioned Web analysis type tools, determining where customers were immediately prior to entering a business locale – essentially a real-world "referring site" concept. [21]

It became apparent that trends in how far shoppers are willing to travel to get to a store like Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue or Nordstrom could indicate monthly trends in that store's sales. [24] People who worked in a city's financial district would to go to work early when the market was booming, but later in the day when markets were down. Plotting San Francisco nightlife patterns on the same graph as the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed that, just before the market peak in July 2008, urban party-goers hit the town at later-than-ever times. [25] [26] Beginning in mid-2006 Skibiski's firm used location data to operate a trading portfolio. [27]

Skibiski was pushed out by lead investor Intel Capital [28] in November 2009 shortly after closing the company's B round of financing, in the same week the company was named one of "The 25 Most Intriguing Startups in the World" by Bloomberg Businessweek [29] and won the Emerging Communications Conference "Company to Watch" Award. [30]

Privacy and data ownership

Although there have been doubts as to its practicality, Skibiski has been an advocate for the New Deal on Data, as created and evangelized by Alex "Sandy" Pentland from The MIT Media Lab. [5] [20] [31] [32] "The idea behind the New Deal on Data is based on Old English Common Law saying you have the right to possess something, use it and dispose of it. "So if you’re a company and you're keeping their location data, the end user should own it and have a say over whether it should be destroyed". [23]

The New Deal on Data also provides for the aggregate, anonymous use of location data for the public good, such as predicting Tuberculosis outbreaks in Africa. "If you can find and identify an outbreak just one week earlier, you’re saving thousands of lives". [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nokia</span> Finnish multinational telecommunications, technology and electronics corporation

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, in the Helsinki metropolitan area, but the company's actual roots are in the Tampere region of Pirkanmaa. In 2020, Nokia employed approximately 92,000 people across over 100 countries, did business in more than 130 countries, and reported annual revenues of around €23 billion. Nokia is a public limited company listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki and New York Stock Exchange. It was the world's 415th-largest company measured by 2016 revenues, according to the Fortune Global 500, having peaked at 85th place in 2009. It is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wireless network</span> Computer network not fully connected by cables

A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment locations. Admin telecommunications networks are generally implemented and administered using radio communication. This implementation takes place at the physical level (layer) of the OSI model network structure.

Telephony is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunication services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is intimately linked to the invention and development of the telephone.

Location-based service (LBS) is a general term denoting software services which use geographic data and information to provide services or information to users. LBS can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, indoor object search, entertainment, work, personal life, etc. Commonly used examples of location-based services include navigation software, social networking services, location-based advertising, and tracking systems. LBS can also include mobile commerce when taking the form of coupons or advertising directed at customers based on their current location. LBS also includes personalized weather services and even location-based games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McAfee</span> American global computer security software company

McAfee Corp., formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company headquartered in San Jose, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qualcomm</span> American semiconductor company

Qualcomm Incorporated is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4G, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA and WCDMA mobile communications standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile phone tracking</span> Identifying the location of a mobile phone

Mobile phone tracking is a process for identifying the location of a mobile phone, whether stationary or moving. Localization may be affected by a number of technologies, such as the multilateration of radio signals between (several) cell towers of the network and the phone or by simply using GNSS. To locate a mobile phone using multilateration of mobile radio signals, the phone must emit at least the idle signal to contact nearby antenna towers and does not require an active call. The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is based on the phone's signal strength to nearby antenna masts.

Locative media or location-based media (LBM) is a virtual medium of communication functionally bound to a location. The physical implementation of locative media, however, is not bound to the same location to which the content refers.

Navteq Corporation was an American Chicago-based provider of geographic information system (GIS) data and a major provider of base electronic navigable maps. The company was acquired by Nokia in 2007–2008, and fully merged into Nokia in 2011 to form part of the Here business unit. The unit was subsequently sold to a consortium of German auto makers in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Biddle</span> American technical evangelist

Peter Nicholas Biddle is a technology evangelist from the United States. His primary fields of interest while employed at major technology companies such as Intel and Microsoft were content distribution, secure computing, and encryption. Since his departure from Intel, he has co-founded and led several industrial design companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silicon Wadi</span> Hub of advanced technology in Israel

Silicon Wadi is a region in Israel that serves as one of the global centres for advanced technology. It spans the Israeli coastal plain, and is cited as among the reasons why the country has become known as the world's "start-up nation". The highest concentrations of high-tech industry in the region can be found around Tel Aviv, including small clusters around the cities of Raʽanana, Petah Tikva, Herzliya, Netanya, Rehovot, and Ness Ziona. Additional clusters of high-tech industry can be found in Haifa and Caesarea. More recent high-tech establishments have been raised in cities such as Jerusalem and Beersheba, in towns such as Yokneam Illit, and in Airport City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tagged (website)</span> Social discovery website

Tagged is a social discovery website based in San Francisco, California, founded in 2004. It allows members to browse the profiles of any other members, and share tags and virtual gifts. Tagged claims it has 300 million members as of 2014. As of September 2011, Quantcast estimates Tagged monthly unique users at 5.9 million in the United States, and 18.6 million globally. Michael Arrington wrote in April 2011 that Tagged is most notable for the ability to grow profitably during the era of Facebook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile phone</span> Portable device to make telephone calls using a radio link

A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone service area, as opposed to a fixed-location phone. The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture, and therefore mobile telephones are called cellphones in North America. In addition to telephony, digital mobile phones support a variety of other services, such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, email, Internet access, short-range wireless communications, satellite access, business applications, payments, multimedia playback and streaming, digital photography, and video games. Mobile phones offering only basic capabilities are known as feature phones ; mobile phones that offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones.

Sense Networks is a New York City based company with a focus on applications that analyze big data from mobile phones, carrier networks, and taxicabs, particularly by using machine learning technology to make sense of large amounts of location (latitude/longitude) data.

iPhone (1st generation) 2007 Apple smartphone

The iPhone is the first iPhone model and the first smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. After years of rumors and speculation, it was officially announced on January 9, 2007, and was released in the United States on June 29, 2007.

"Carrier IQ Tops VisionMobile's 100 Million Club"(PDF). 26 March 2012. Archived from the original(PDF) on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuze (company)</span> American communications and software company

Fuze is a cloud communications and collaboration software platform designed for the enterprise. Fuze was acquired by 8x8. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Forcepoint is an American multinational corporation software company headquartered in Austin, Texas, that develops computer security software and data protection, cloud access security broker, firewall and cross-domain solutions.

References

  1. 1 2 Fitzgerald, Michael. "Predicting Where You’ll Go and What You’ll Like", The New York Times , New York, 22 June 2008. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  2. ↑ Dezember, Ryan. "Your Smartphone’s Location Data Is Worth Big Money to Wall Street", Wall Street Journal , New York, 2 November 2018. Retrieved on 21 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "Sense Networks Secures Series B Funding for Location Analytics, Led by Intel Capital", Sense Networks corporate website, Media Center, New York, 30 June 2009. Retrieved on 14 May 2010.
  4. ↑ "Press Release: Sense Networks Secures Series B Funding for Location Analytics, Led by Intel Capital", Intel Capital , New York, 30 June 2009. Retrieved on 13 May 2010.
  5. 1 2 Sheridan, Barrett. "A Trillion Points of Data", Newsweek , New York, 28 February 2009. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  6. ↑ Baker, Stephen. "Mapping a New, Mobile Internet", Bloomberg Businessweek , New York, 26 February 2009. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  7. ↑ Markoff, John. "You're Leaving a Digital Trail. What About Privacy?", The New York Times , New York, 29 November 2008. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Sense Networks, Inc. corporate website. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  9. ↑ US Patent & Trademark Office. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  10. ↑ Silver, James. "The Hidden Persuaders", Wired Magazine , London, 22 June 2009. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  11. ↑ Macmanus, Richard. "Top 10 Internet of Things Products of 2009", The New York Times , New York, 8 December 2009. Retrieved on 13 May 2010.
  12. ↑ Clipping Newsweek 3 September 2009
  13. ↑ Dezember, Ryan. "Your Smartphone’s Location Data Is Worth Big Money to Wall Street", The Wall Street Journal , New York, 2 November 2018. Retrieved on 21 July 2020.
  14. ↑ Greg Skibiski, linkedin.com, Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  15. ↑ "HEC Graduate, Greg Skibiski, Indexes the Real World", HEC Paris , Paris, 25 June 2008. Retrieved on 13 May 2010.
  16. ↑ "The Mobile Web", Milken Institute , Los Angeles, 27 April 2009. Retrieved on 13 May 2010.
  17. ↑ Junietz, Erika. "A Sense of Place", MIT Technology Insider, Boston, August 2008. Retrieved on 14 May 2010.
  18. ↑ Davey, Justin. "Five Location-Based Services to Watch in 2009", VentureBeat, San Francisco, 28 November 2008. Retrieved on 14 May 2010.
  19. ↑ Stern, Allen. "Sense Networks Answers the Question, 'Where's the Party At?'" Archived 28 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine , CenterNetworks, San Francisco, 9 June 2008. Retrieved on 14 May 2010.
  20. 1 2 Forrest, Brady. "Citysense: Lets You Know What Everyone's Doing" Archived 16 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine , O'Reilly , San Francisco, 9 June 2008. Retrieved on 14 May 2010.
  21. 1 2 Raphael, JR. "GPS Mapping Shows Where the Action Is", TechNewsWorld, San Francisco, 9 June 2008.
  22. ↑ Levine, Barry. "Citysense Monitors Real-Time Human Traffic", CIO Today , 9 June 2009.
  23. 1 2 Stepanek, Marcia. "New Deal on Data", Pop!Tech , San Francisco, 29 May 2009. Retrieved on 14 May 2010.
  24. ↑ Gupta, Ritesh. "Using location analytics to mine mobile location data for user segmentation" Archived 5 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine , The Where Business , San Francisco, 1 July 2010.
  25. ↑ Markoff, John. "You're Leaving a Digital Trail. What About Privacy?", The New York Times , New York, 29 November 2008.
  26. ↑ "Where 2.0 Conference, San Francisco, "Greg Skibiski's Keynote: Decoding the Urban DNA and Harnessing the Power of Social Intelligence". 20 May 2009. Video". Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  27. ↑ Sheridan, Barrett. "A Trillion Points of Data", Newsweek , New York, 28 February 2009.
  28. ↑ Baker, Stephen. "Data correlation: Used-car customers drop cell-phone service?", The Numerati , New York, 8 January 2010. Retrieved on 14 May 2010.
  29. ↑ Ante, Spencer. "The World's Most Intriguing Startups", Bloomberg BusinessWeek , New York, 12 November 2009. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  30. ↑ "Sense Networks Wins the Emerging Communications Conference & Awards Inaugural "Company to Watch" Award" Archived 16 July 2011 at archive.today , Press Release , New York, 2 November 2009. Retrieved on 16 May 2010.
  31. ↑ Diaz, Carly. "Interview with Greg Skibiski". Amsterdam, NL. 29 September 2009. Video. Archived 10 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  32. ↑ Bollier, David. The Promise and Peril of Big Data (book) Eighteenth Annual Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information Technology, Aspen, Colorado, 2010. ISBN   0-89843-516-1
  33. ↑ Tsai, Jessica. "Here, There and Everywhere" Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine , DestinationCRM , San Francisco, January 2010. Retrieved on 15 May 2010.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.