Time for analytics to shine

As coronavirus and COVID-19, the disease it causes, continues its swift and efficient devastation of human lives and economies worldwide, the analytics community steps up its engagement to thwart the greatest global threat in most of our lifetimes. From modeling the spread of the virus to redesigning broken supply chains to informing decision-makers with data-based research and science, analytics professionals and academics alike are lending their skills, tools and methodology to the battle.

To highlight some of the contributions, research and insight the greater analytics community is bringing to bear during the war on COVID-19, in mid-March Analytics magazine launched a series of rapidly published online articles collectively called “Coronavirus Chronicles.” Harrison Schramm, erstwhile “Five-Minute Analyst” columnist for the magazine, brought us the idea and recruited many of the first contributors. The response was quick and plentiful, and because the topic was on almost everyone’s mind, we began grouping other contributed articles and columns under the same banner. As a result, this May/June issue of Analytics is chock-full of coronavirus-related content, including such headlines as:

• “Competing objectives: Eliminate virus and reopen the economy”
• “Defense budget post-COVID-19: Hard questions need answers”
• “How to interpret coronavirus news in light of false negatives”
• “Analyze This! Thoughts from the time of the COVID-19 crisis”
• “The COVID-19 pandemic and the stressed blood supply chain”
• “Healthcare Analytics: The pandemic that humbled humanity”
• “Pandemic provides opportunity to strengthen tech infrastructure”
• “Why today’s supply chain challenges require new solutions” 

In addition, the OR/MS Today website – the membership magazine of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) – features several articles that also take a look at the coronavirus crisis from an operations research and analytics perspective, such as “Biology vs. economy: A false choice” and “COVID-19: Are there two routes to infection?” The INFORMS Public Affairs and Marketing Department curates a “Daily COVID-19 Update” that highlights recent coronavirus-related articles authored or co-authored by members of INFORMS that appear in various other publications. (Click here to access and then click on the "COVID-19 Updates" folder.)

As we write this, a few nations and a few U.S. states are relaxing their shelter-in-place directives and allowing some stores, restaurants, beaches, parks and other public places to open, but it is nowhere near business as usual. The war on COVID-19 is far from over, and as INFORMS President Pinar Keskinocak recently wrote, “There is no better time to put our expertise and capabilities into good use!”