Mar/Apr 2015

For a long time, businesses were in the dark when it came to their customers. The little amount of “row and column” data that they had didn’t provide nearly enough to understand the customers’ needs, much less align the products and supporting business processes to them. These days, the opposite is true. Businesses are flooded with huge amounts of data about their customers. Phone calls, emails, text messages, chats and even social media posts ensure that companies are inundated with information.

• Ryan Pellet

In the fall 2014 issue of Johns Hopkins Magazine, Aneesh Chopra (the first U.S. chief technology officer) said, “When it comes to making major decisions, there are two camps. One consists of people who believe intuition trumps analysis – go with your gut. The other rejects intuition in favor of careful data analysis – where there is enough data, there’s no need for intuition. The ideal is a marriage of the two.”

• Jay Liebowitz

The Internet of Things (IoT) and the data it is producing are becoming main catalysts for change and transformation for businesses and consumers alike. Today, with every object, device, consumer, technology and activity being wired or connected wirelessly through the IoT into the digital realm, an increasing amount of data is being created that can offer countless benefits. For instance, businesses can analyze sensor data in real time to make key decisions impacting patient healthcare or resource management, and consumers can receive more personalized, timely and connected products and experiences such as smart smoke detectors or tailored deals from retailers.

• Arnab Chakraborty
• Michael Svilar
• Prith Banerjee

Statistics has been with us since the dawn of time. We have clay tablets from Babylonian censuses from as early as 3800 BC, records from Egypt from 2300 BC, and recall the Roman census in AD7 as mentioned in Luke. Statistical data was used to assess populations, set taxes and quantify the need for food. By the 18th century, a political economy of statistics was part of intellectual discourse, as evidenced by “The Wealth of Nations” (published in 1776) and the development of graphical displays by William Playfair. Florence Nightengale is credited with improvements in the use of statistical graphics to communicate where words alone were ineffective. Now, in the age of ratings, nearly continuous polling, Six Sigma and big data, it is hard to conceive of a world without statistics

• James J. Swain

SAS is the world’s largest privately held software company, with 70,000 customer sites in 138 countries, including 93 of the top 100 companies on the 2014 Fortune Global 500 list. SAS’ strengths in advanced analytics – statistics, data mining, machine learning, econometrics, forecasting and operations research – along with data management capabilities lie at the heart of its success since it was founded in 1976.

• Kathy Lange

The landscape of healthcare analytics continues to change, the opportunities for analytic professionals continue to grow in this arena, and the potential for start-ups persists. Before addressing the leadership transformation within healthcare organizations that these changes and opportunities demand, let’s first examine what is happening within various healthcare stakeholders.

• Rajib Ghosh