• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, December 4, 2017

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and its Data Center of Excellence on Monday announced the winners of the second annual IAB Data Rockstar Awards, which honor industry leaders and practitioners who have demonstrated achievement in data science. The organizations also named the first IAB Data Rising Star.

The year, the IAB and its Data Center of Excellence  Data Rising Star will spotlight an up-and-coming executive working in the field of data whose work shows skill and foresight, although she has been in her role for less than five years.

The 2017 award was given to Dorothy Ann Advincula, head of research and insights at Samsung Ads.

Orchid Richardson, vice president and managing director, IAB Data Center of Excellence, told Digital News Daily that Advincula caught the attention of the committee "by virtue of the number of times she was nominated by her peers for the work she was doing."

Advincula was not as senior as many of the nominees in the space and had only been in a hands-on data role for about three years, yet it became increasingly clear after reviewing her background that she was drawing from a diverse range of experiences from her research background to develop creative, forward-thinking and pragmatic approaches to solving data-specific problems.

"Not only was she described as a sharp and creative thinker, but the work itself was also consistently called out for having an out-sized impact on overall product direction, sales, and strategic decision making at all levels of the organization that led to real bottom-line results," Richardson said.  "[She] demonstrates the influence that an entrepreneurial, bootstrapping approach to data collection and insights can make on an organization, no matter the seniority or the number of years of experience on your resume."

Those who took the IAB Data Rockstar Awards also showed excellence in their field, Richardson said. The finalists were evaluated based on demonstrated excellence, creativity, or forward-thinking approaches to solving problems in data science, as well as the impact their contributions have made to their team, company, or the industry as a whole. 

Selected by the Data Center Board of Directors were five winners who spend many hours daily delving into data:

• Rajiv Bhat, senior vice president, Data Sciences and Marketplace, InMobi

• Jason Bier, executive vice president, general counsel and chief privacy officer, Engine Media

• Jaysen Gillespie, vice president, head of analytics and data science, Criteo

• Stacey Hawes, president, data practice, Epsilon

• Bill Michels, senior vice president, product and partnerships, Factual

Nominations, submitted by peers and colleagues from companies ranging from data analytical platforms to marketing technology agencies, were accepted between May and October 2017.

The IAB Data Rockstar Awards winners were announced at the IAB Data Symposium in New York City.