Applied Analytics Doesn’t Have to be Technical
by Trish P. Patriarca
In the recently concluded Applied Analytics for Competitive Advantage: Data Strategies for Disruptive Impact workshop organized by John Clements Consulting Inc. last September 5 & 6, 2018, it had covered topics such as Data Prediction, Empathy as a learning curve in incorporating into programming, Python Programming and even Artificial Intelligence (AI) like Chatbots.
Admittedly being new to the technology used in the corporate world, the workshop was an eye-opener for everyone who understood the basic level of data collection. It isn’t just the collection of demographics but the inclusion of certain key aspects that transform collected data into something more detailed which caught the delegates’ attention.
If you can recall the concept of Tom Cruise’s movie Minority Report, it was all about pre-crime or predicting crime. With that scenario in mind, think of data being used as a predictor to enhancing or grow your business, with the consent of your clients or customers, of course. Applied Analytics can predict your customer’s needs and wants and in effect, simplify their life as well.
As of the moment, you’ll see apps like Shoppee and Lazada already featuring products that you might possibly want to purchase based on what you enter into their search bar. Plus, when you go to certain websites, you’ll be greeted by a pop-up window (a Chatbot) asking if you’ll need some help navigating around the website or if you have any questions they can help you with. Whatever you enter as a form of a question or an answer gets stored in a database and is used for the AI to learn in their responses. Although when it comes to slang or even sarcasm, AI still has some adapting to do.
On the other side of data prediction, it can be another avenue for saving our planet’s resources. If a company can predict how often a consumer will purchase their product/s, they can also predict how much waste to avoid in the production process.
Thinking about data analysis has become exciting. I have much to learn but it’s a start that’s worth sharing with whoever wants to improve their business and the future of everyone as well. And no, it’s not all that technical either.
