Jeff Chen is a computational statistician who has led public-facing data science initiatives in over 40 fields. Currently, he is the Vice President of Data Science at Nordic Entertainment Group where he leads machine learning (ML) and data engineering for personalizing one of Europe’s leading entertainment services that reaches millions of people every day.
Previously, he has had the opportunity to serve among the earliest data scientists in the US public sector. His early work on fire prediction (FireCast) in the NYC Fire Department and hurricane response at the Mayor’s Office during the Bloomberg Administration were formative experiences that have influenced his perspective on how science fits with policy.
Upon joining the US Federal Government, Jeff served as a proponent of data science while he advised on data for climate change at NASA and the Obama White House, introduced ML for improving the components of the Gross Domestic Product while serving as the Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and reached thousands of public servants through a large scale technical training program and a data science incubator program as Chief Data Scientist at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In addition, he has taught data science at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy as an adjunct professor as well as advised on predictive modeling for soccer performance with DC United (a US Major League Soccer team) and statistical research with the United Nations Development Programme in Africa.
