We have previously written about the perils of third-party data in forecasting. The notion that more data helps improve forecasting is true in principle, albeit in practice it can make things worse. An article published in the fourth quarter 2022…
As of Monday, November 21st, 2022, the prospects of averting a nationwide rail strike appear to be grim. The Federal government intervened in September, avoiding a strike at that time. But there was a sense that this was just "kicking…
You won't want to miss a compelling demonstration of a predictive safety application, to be presented at the upcoming Utility Analytics Week in San Diego on October 19th. SoCalGas will present a coaching tool, based on machine learning, to support…
Tom Davenport, First Analytics chairman and noted author and expert on analytics is releasing two books this month, September, 2022. Working with AI: Real Stories of Human-Machine Collaboration explores worker-AI collaboration in real world settings. By offering detailed, real-world case…
The opioid epidemic has taken a toll, as shown by this infographic produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The misuse of opioids was declared a public health emergency in 2017. In 2020 a research team studying…
First Analytics was among the first to realize the potential value of IoT data. In fact, we coined the phrase "The Analytics of Things". Around that time we registered the domain www.analyticsofthings.com. First Analytics chairman, Tom Davenport, followed up with…
First Analytics recently joined the Global Burden of Animal Diseases Program as a collaborator. Also known as GBADs, the program was launched in 2018, sponsored by the University of Liverpool. Supporting organizations include the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, other…
Many have touted the inclusion of data from outside the firm as a way to improve forecast accuracy. The idea is that, with the incorporation of more information to explain the demand signal, forecasts are bound to be better. In…
After many months of angst about rapidly rising commodity prices, indications are that they are coming back down. This presents an opportunity for a data-driven business that uses advanced analytics. Though there is pain in operating a supply chain under…
Tom Davenport, our chairman, along with co-author DJ Patil recently wrote, "Is Data Scientist Still the Sexiest Job of the 21st Century?" This is an update to the original article from ten years ago. It got us thinking about the…