Date: September 28, 2017
Time: 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Location: 655 Reitz Union Drive, Gainesville, FL, 32611
Host: UF CISE Department
Admission: This event is free and open to the public.

Notes to My Younger Self

Abstract: Stop by the Chamber Room on the ground floor of the Reitz Union on Thursday, Sept. 28, to listen to Davyeon Ross, co-founder and COO of DDSports Inc., share highlights of his professional, athletic and entrepreneurial journey, and the emotional highs and lows while navigating the roller coaster of entrepreneurship. Hear Davyeon’s unique insight into building an exciting sports tech company while traveling from the West Indies throughout the US, Europe, Asia and Canada and key learnings from years of playing competitive and college basketball.

Biography: An innovative technology leader and widely recognized entrepreneur, Davyeon Ross has almost 20 years of experience in the technology sector. Ross is Co-founder / COO of DDSports Inc. a team sports performance platform fueled by wearable and smart equipment data. DDSports first product ShotTracker, is a wearable technology that provides comprehensive real-time stats to players, coaches and fans in practice and live games.

In October 2011, Digital Sports Ventures, founded by Ross, was acquired by Digital Broadcasting Group, a top 5 Video Ad Network headquartered in New York, NY, with offices in Los Angeles, Calif., Chicago, Ill., and now Overland Park, Kan. As part of the acquisition, DBG named Ross, Executive Vice President, Publisher Solutions. Ross’ responsibilities included overseeing product development around the company’s Content Library Platform (CLiP), content acquisition and the syndication and distribution of DBG’s six content verticals within CLiP.

As CEO of Digital Sports Ventures, Ross negotiated the rights to Division I college sports video across seven major conferences, and set the strategy for the company’s portfolio of content and interactive technologies. His vision of uniting college sports and digital media into affordable, turnkey solutions opened new doors for publishers, advertisers and agencies seeking to engage sports fans in a targeted manner.

Prior to launching Digital Sports Ventures, Ross served as lead technical and management consultant for eVergance Partners (acquired in 2007), managing projects across the United States, Europe and Canada for clients including Research in Motion (BlackBerry), T-Online, Business Objects, Sasktel, Mattel, Siemens Medical Systems, Nortel Networks and others. Prior to eVergance, Ross began his technology career as a software engineer for Sprint, playing critical roles in the development of the company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Knowledge Management applications.

A native of Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies, Ross was a four-year letterman for Benedictine College’s basketball team while leading the nation in field goal percentage his senior year. Ross also earned a bachelor of science in Computer Science and later earned his MBA from Mid-America Nazarene University.