Effective strategies for customer data maturity revealed – New study
With data being hailed as the fuel for the fourth industrial revolution, it’s no surprise to see new research emerging tying data maturity to business success. But what are the key ingredients for data maturity? And what are the key benefits? A new study has the answers.
How studying politics led to a career in data
Many of the people who work in data have a background in STEM subjects but equally the study of arts and humanities can form a strong basis for a career in analytics. Tess Merkulova tells Toni Sekinah why it is important to her as a data professional to pay very close attention to detail, and what are the similarities between data and comparative politics, which she studied to degree level.
Fines for data breaches should be more than monetary
Are fines fine and dandy for companies that don’t secure our data? Should we make them pay in another way? Toni Sekinah wonders if there is a way to hit them where it really hurts.
Strava gets a PB with cloud-based data warehouse
Social networks are renowned for the amount of data they amass, and sports social networks like Strava are no different. Strava’s data function was buckling under the weight of its own popularity, having recently passed the milestone of two billi…
SilkFred cottons on to self-service data
Online fashion platform SilkFred was set up in 2012 to help bring together smaller independent brands and fashionistas looking for an alternative to the offerings on the high street. Co-founder and CEO Emma Watkinson explained that she and her st…
How studying big cats led to analysing big data
Elizabeth Moorcroft, a senior data scientist at Aviva, is working in the customer service team as part of the insurance company’s global data science practice, Quantum. Her daily tasks depend on the stage of the project she is working on at the ti…
Crunching data to map the Milky Way
The mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) is to explore the universe and it has a fleet of 10 craft out in space to do so. The Gaia space mission began in 1993 and the actual spacecraft was launched in 2013. Its aim is to create a precise 3D …
Getting the National Express bus network on board with data
Most Brits would think of intercity coach travel or airport transfers when the brand National Express comes to mind. So many may not know that two thirds of its journeys are carried out by third party providers.
“All the vehicles are the sa…
A data leader’s tips to owning your achievements
Natalie Jakomis, as the group head of data at GoCompare, is responsible for data engineering, data intelligence and data science. She is also charged with getting every part of the business to be more effective with data “so that data becomes part…
How sharing public sector data can solve societal problems
Lee Howell, currently seconded to Avon and Somerset Constabulary as chief fire officer, is committed to taking the benefits and learnings from working with data into the real world to solve strategic problems, and he thinks the key to this is shar…
Why is Leeds such a hub for data activity?
Leeds, the Yorkshire town of almost 800,000 people, has developed into a hub of data activity. It is home to ODI Leeds, the Data City as well as several commercial enterprises that are fuelled by data, such as TransUnion. It is also the location o…
Data skills gap is exaggerated, say public sector data leaders
“There is a massive war for talent because everyone wants the best.” So said Kevin Fletcher, head of data at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, acknowledging the heated competition among organisations that want to hire data professionals with the …
Yes, Women in Data is still very necessary
Check your privilege, mate. That is the very minimum that should be said to the man who aggressively challenged one of the founders of Women in Data during Big Data Ldn. Picking a verbal fight over the rights or wrongs of perceived positive discri…
Hacking data to find missing people and top talent
At the end of May, 22 data enthusiasts turned up at a building in the vicinity of Royal Mail’s iconic Mount Pleasant sorting office in central London for a charity hackathon. Not only did this event have a philanthropic goal, but it brough…
Why Fry would say IA instead of AI
As part of a tour to promote her new book, Dr Hannah Fry took part in a discussion at the Royal Society of Arts last week. Some of the opinions she expressed included; why we don’t have to …
Myth-busting the dangers of a “big data algocracy”
Alongside faster, more efficient vehicles, the accelerated pace of progress in the automotive industry has resulted in more data than ever before. Connected cars, which are equipped with internet access, allow vehicles to collect data and share in…
Just 1% of businesses are fully data-centric says report
Only 1% of decision makers say their organisations are fully data-driven. Furthermore, 40% stated their company is between a quarter and halfway along that transformation journey from focusing on business intelligence to data and analytics. This i…
Camden Council and the benefits of opening data
Sudip Trivedi is the head of data and analytics, and connectivity business partner at Camden Council. Central to his role is improving the quality of data within the borough and allowing more people to access that data.
Trivedi came to the …
Machine learning – focusing on code misses the big picture
According to Rangarajan Vasudevan, CEO of data strategy company The Data Team, machine learning has received an extensive amount of hype and media coverage in recent times. However, he feels it is important to point out that machine learning syste…
Marks and Spencer to train staff in data skills
Marks and Spencer is to train over 1,000 employees in digital skills through a partnership with digital skills training organisation Decoded, with the aim of creating the world’s first data academy in a retail organisation. It also reflects th…