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Tag: Predictive Analytics

Meet our newest GPS faculty members

October 12, 2018 / / 0 Comments

The first week of the October session is here and we are excited to introduce the newest Brandeis GPS faculty members. These industry leaders come to Brandeis GPS with expertise and established networks within their fields. We have no doubt that the knowledge and experience they bring will provide for meaningful learning opportunities in the online classroom.

Garrett Gillin – RDMD 110: Principals of Search Engine Marketing

Garret Gillin Headshot

Garrett Gillin, MBA, is a co-founder and Principal at 215 Marketing, a Google Premier Partner agency located in Philadelphia, PA, where he oversees the development and execution of integrated digital marketing initiatives with a concentration on programmatic advertising, marketing automation, and advanced analytics.

Todd Chapin – RUCD 185: Design for Non-screen User Experiences

Todd Chapin HeadshotTodd Chapin is a co-founder and Chief Product Officer at ShopClerk.ai. He has experience in product management and UX, as well as expertise in personal mobility, speech recognition, and e-commerce. He has worked at Zipcar, Audible, and Nuance Communications. He has graduate and undergraduate degrees in Human Factors Engineering from Tufts University.

Ernest Green – RSAN 160: Predictive Analytics

Ernest Green Headshot

Ernest Green MS, MBA, PMP, is Vice President of Data Mining at a large financial institution in Dallas, TX. Prior to this role, he worked as a Data Scientist with General Motors and has 10+ years of diverse analytics experience. He holds multiple college degrees and most recently completed a Master’s in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University. His research and expertise are in analytics, machine learning, natural language processing and artificial intelligence.

We are so pleased to welcome these new faculty members to Brandeis GPS and look forward to seeing how they bring their expertise to their online classrooms.

Faces of GPS is an occasional series that profiles Brandeis University Graduate Professional Studies students, faculty and staff. Find more Faces of GPS stories here.

Analytics: Not Just For Data Experts

April 1, 2015 / / 0 Comments

By Ariel Garber

Analytics is useful in any profession, with the potential to increase efficiency, profitability and accuracy. From healthcare, to marketing, to even sports, analytics is becoming an essential tool in all fields. Here’s a sneak peak into how data affects more industries that you expect.

Technology is shaping a new health care economy, evident in the advances of Stethoscopemobile devices, cloud computing and analytics. “‘We need to empower consumers with the in-the-moment guidance they need,’” said Dennis Schmuland, MD, Microsoft’s chief health strategy officer, “adding that a key technological component of that on both sides of the patient-provider equation is health analytics, thus the need to ‘make analytics easy for everyone.’”

Social media Picture1and marketing analytics tools are also important as social media becomes essential in all fields. Research has shown that “the conversations your customers have among themselves drive about 13 percent of business decisions and can amplify your advertising by 15 percent.

Sports analytics are valuable to both consumers and professionals, for the way we consume sports industry through sports data is dependent upon analytics. “Sports analytics is not just a catch phrase, but an influential part of the future of sports,” said Bloomberg Sports, the leading global provider in data and analytics, “We believe sports analytics plays an integral role in the future of sport, both at a fan engagement and elite sport performance level.” Bloomberg Sports offers a variety of resources to both consumers and professionals. For professional purposes, they provide analytic tools for scouting, video analysis and “player-centric applications to assess performances and aid the preparation of upcoming games.” They also have created a predictive analytics program and use their own broadcast and TV stations to “translate analytics-rich content into broadcast tools used on-air to inform and educate viewers.” They also host their own website, StatsInsights.com, featuring analytics-rich sports articles.

Big data is becoming incorporated into all aspects of sports, from devices that can track pitches during the game, to wearable technology. Adidas’ miCoach system collects data from a device attached to the player’s jersey that shows the top performers and who is tired, as well as “real-time stats on each player, such as speed, heart rate and acceleration.” The data from these devices assists trainers, coaches, and physicians in planning better training and conditioning.

There is also a demand for data analytics specialists to translate the data from these devices in a coherent manner for the players and coaches. Moneyball, a 2003 book and 2011 movie featured the Oakland Athletics competitive baseball that utilized analytics in their data-driven strategies. This highlights a shift in sports from gut instincts to a reliance upon science. Analytics is “gaining recognition as a tried and true instrument for competitive advantage in countless industries.”

Brandeis Graduate Professional Studies offers a Strategic Analytics program that produces professionals who understand the strategic potential of big-data analytics and who can translate analysis into effective organizational decision-making, poised to lead today’s organizations to new standards of efficiency and competitiveness.

Brandeis GPS is hosting an Analytics 360 Symposium on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 from 9am-4:30pm at Hassenfeld Conference Center of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

360LogoALT2The day-long symposium will focus on promoting a discussion of the growing field of analytics and how organizations can leverage big data to make more strategic decisions. Panelists will engage in a conversation that places analytics in the context of big data, education, health, marketing and business.

Register here for the Analytics 360 Symposium on April 8, 2015 at Brandeis University. The cost for NERCOMP members is $135 and the cost for non-members is $265. Submit this form to learn more about special pricing available to members of the Brandeis community. For more information, email analytics360@brandeis.edu or call 781-736-8786. You can also find us on Twitter using #GPSAnalytics.

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The Opportunities in Big Data Still Ripe for Innovation

January 30, 2015 / / 0 Comments

– Associate Editor, BostInno Tech

Big data is the “new currency” — an innovation that can boost or bust a business when not properly taken advantage of. Smart startups have been dipping into the deluge of data to draw out audience analytics, predict maintenance before costly breakdowns or better deliver targeted treatments to their consumers.

With innovation naturally comes a surge of yet-to-be explored opportunities other companies should have the foresight to capitalize on.

“More big data disruption is coming,” said Ryan Betts, CTO of Bedford-based VoltDB, in an email to BostInno. “And it will be around real-time, interactive experiences.”

The space is one VoltDB has been able to establish itself in, by providing an in-memory relational database that combines massive data ingest with real-time analytics and decisioning, so that organizations can act on data at its greatest point of value.

Betts pointed to big-name behemoths, such as Google, Amazon, IBM, Oracle and Microsoft, that are also establishing themselves in the space. He noted “unlimited Internet-attached storage space can be purchased at very cost competitive prices,” which, when combined with “ubiquitous computing,” are creating a network effect that’s become increasingly beneficial to consumers.

“In the same way that social networks become more powerful and offer greater utility as members join and build connections,” Betts explained, “these devices will connect to share data, to cooperate with one another and to interact with us in our environment.”

Betts menCloud-Computing-captioned Nest, a company reinventing the thermostat and smoke alarm by connecting to the Internet and syncing up to apps in a way that’s reinventing climate control. The collision Betts’ described is even more evident in individuals’ “smartphone on the coffee table” or “tablet a family member uses for Facebook.”

He added, “For the consumer, the automation and the disruptive potential of these devices communicating and interacting with one another will create relevant, micro-personalized experiences.”

To Atlas Venture Partner Chris Lynch, co-founder and board member of Kendall Square’s big data hackerspace hack/reduce, the future is, indeed, in “automation, simplification and integration.” Lynch broke each element down in an email to BostInno, saying:

Automation of the process of analyzing data, simplification of the user interface to allow non-data scientists to participate in the big data revolution and integration of next generation analytics into legacy applications people already know how to use.

Lynch acknowledged big data’s downfalls, adding, “Platform and tool companies are largely played out.”

His comment was reminiscent of that of Google Ventures’ Rich Miner, who, at Harvard Business School’s recent Cyberposium, argued, “Big data is a very overused word.” He added that big data is often “a layer, not a startup itself.” Yet, he had formerly singled out Nest for taking “mundane devices” and making it work on users’ behalf, noting there’s “a huge amount of innovation” in the connected devices space — which all circles back to big data.

“From a pure technology perspective, we need to deliver scale, security and simplicity,” Lynch said. “[We need to] make it easy for people to absorb the technology and increase the time to value.”

To Betts, the industry can see immense value from interconnections, as well. As he posited:

Interconnections will impact factory manufacturing plants; impact how predictive maintenance is scheduled and executed on high-end industrial equipment; create connected Internet services that must scale authorization and authentication, detect and prevent financial, telephone and even online-game fraud, and make construction sites better monitored, safer and more efficient. And that’s not all. It will also participate in building a smarter electric grid that is cheaper, less wasteful, more reliable and designed to supply power to electric vehicles while generating power through broadly distributed residential solar panels and other alternative sources.

Now it’s up to innovators to seize the opportunities.

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How Predictive Analytics Can Improve Healthcare

July 16, 2014 / / 0 Comments

The below is the winning essay for a Brandeis GPS’ contest written by Health and Medical Informatics student, Davis Graham. Join Brandeis GPS is a free webinar 7/17 at 7pm: “Long Term Care: The Last EMRFrontier“

 

“My specific interest in predictive analytics is the ability to merge the once vacant silos of health information into a model which engages a person into the maintenance of a healthier lifestyle.[1]  Genomics and health information technology has the potential to help predict disease before it becomes chronic.  Predictive analytics will allow us to change from a treatment oriented to a preventive oriented healthcare system contributing to the efficiency of healthcare.

Predictive analytics gives the foundation for an individual to step onto a healthier path in life when substantial knowledge supports the first step.  There is a survival instinct which takes place in every individual when faced with the loss of health or life, giving them a fearlessness to assume responsibility to preserve their health and life.

The key element of a healthier population is engagement and implementation of a program which improves health.  For example, if a person has knowledge from predictive analytics showing they would have a 98% probability of being a candidate for colorectal cancer, then the barriers of fear currently existing in our current health care system would program-hero-strategic-analyticsinspire the patient to seek preventive care.  No one should die of colorectal cancer in this country or in the world.  Getting the patient to have a CT Colonography (CTC) would decrease the mortality rate for colorectal cancer substantially.  The cost of a CTC due to just the volume would decrease into the $250 range.  The current cost at our facility is $495; it costs us $200 to have the CTC read through teleradiology by a radiologist who reads these studies frequently.  Predictive analytics could change the whole landscape of CTC cost by pure volume.  Radiologists who are not reading CT Colonography (CTC) now would learn how to read them and would become experienced because of the increase in volume.

It is my hope that predictive analytics is steering healthcare back to the “doctor-patient relationship” of a patient driven healthcare.[2]  It is my belief that patient driven healthcare is the most efficient and effective way of providing health to a population.  With the aid of predictive analytics, the robust information gained from predictive analytics data will enable a society to engage in healthcare, which would educate the population with Stethoscopeknowledge as to how to predict their health outcomes.  Thus, the future patient population would embrace preventive health.  With patients engaged in their health, predictive analytics could reverse the current wasteful trend of 80% of healthcare expenditures being spent on 20% of the population, to one that is healthier for the economics of a country and a population.[3]  I could see in the future where 70% of the healthcare dollars is spent on 100% of the population with the remaining 30% going to research and development in healthcare and predictive analytics.

Predictive analytics would reverse the 20 to 30% of profits now going to health insurance companies into increased health dollars invested into healthcare.  A great example is William McGuire from United Health Care who earned $1.2 billion in one year.  This should be a light to the world that the $1.2 billion which William McGuire made did not go back into the healthcare system;[4]  it went into his pocket to spend and donate where his personal interests lay.  To put it in perspective, $1.2 billion could open 925 doctors’ offices each being 7,000 square foot for a cost of $1,297,400 each[5] or 4.8 million CTCs reimbursed at $250 each.

A key component to predictive analytics is the unbridled sharing of information. With quantum cryptography and the recent efforts of quantum computer (such as D-Wave), we are on the edge for sharing and processing healthcare’s “big data.” Predictive analytics in how-predictive-analytics-can-make-money-for-social-networks-46ce73d0c0the United States will be a new frontier for all health information which is electronically collected around the world. With predictive analytics, a combination of pharmaceuticals used to cure a chronic disease in one area of the world will enable population health to take steps in preventive care in advance of the chronic disease in other parts of the world.

In essence, we are embarking on a voyage into a new land of opportunity to process big data to predict solutions into the future. Healthcare is a team effort and aligns with Ernest Shackleton and his eclectic team, all of whom survived the harshest environment of being beset in the Antarctica.  Our healthcare system needs such a team to drive through the storms of economic pressure and the current healthcare system into one which perseveres.  Predictive analytics is the system which will not only benefit the United States, but predictive analytics in healthcare also has the potential to benefit the health of the world in a way healthcare has yet to be seen.”

About the Author: 

photoDavis Graham is currently earning his M.S. in Health and Medical Informatics with Brandeis University, Graduate Professional Studies. Davis is the Executive Director & CFO at the Manatee Diagnostic Center in Florida.  This essay won a contest for free entry into Eric Siegel’s Predictive Analytics World Conference.

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Advice at Rabb ceremony: ‘Geek Out’

May 19, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Original Post: http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2014/may/commencement/rabb.html

by: Leah Burrows

rabb620

In Sunday’s kickoff diploma ceremony, the Division of Graduate Professional Studies at the Rabb School of Continuing Studies conferred nearly 100 graduate degrees and certificates on a diverse group of professionals from across the country and around the world.

The ceremony awarded graduate certificates and master’s degrees in bioinformatics, information security, information technology management, project and program management, health and medical informatics, virtual management and software engineering.

The graduates, most of whom worked full-time jobs as they pursued their degrees and certificates, shared the spotlight with their families, who were praised for their support and patience.

“Friends and family members should get a graduate degree in understanding,” said Anne Marando, executive director of the Division of Graduate Professional Studies.

Student speaker Robert Havasy, MS ’14, agreed, thanking his family for “propping me up when I thought about quitting, when the work seemed too much.”

Havasy, the corporate team lead for product and technology development at the Center for Connected Health, highlighted the differences between Rabb graduates and others receiving their degrees on Sunday.

Many of these students will spend the next few years figuring out what they want to do, struggling to find their place in the work force and searching for a mentor, Havasy said.

“What makes Rabb unique is the vast majority of us came here from established careers,” Havasy told his fellow graduates. “We will return to work next week or, more likely, tomorrow. We will become mentors to these students. So spend time with your interns, use your influence to promote diversity, civility and integrity in the workplace.”

Eric Siegel ’91, the founder of Predictive Analytics World and Text Analytics World, gave the keynote address. He urged the graduates to “do what you love and love what you do.”

EricSeigelStudent“My advice to you is geek out,” Siegel said. “Get into it. Find that thing in your work you get a thrill out of.  The holy grail in your work life is finding that thing that gives you a kick.”

Siegel, the executive editor of Predictive Analytics Times and the author of “Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die,” received his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis in computer science.

He shared his own experiences geeking out about predictive analytics, theater and teaching. The self-proclaimed “singing professor” lived up to his name, serenading graduates with a few verses from his songs about problem solving and analytics.

“It is a priority to find the fun in your work life,” he told the graduates.

Pursing an education while working a full-time job wasn’t always fun for many of Sunday’s graduates but it was fulfilling.

“This was such a rewarding experience,” said Rocky Moscoso, who received a Master’s of Software Engineering. “I had 14 years of experience in the field before coming to Brandeis and I was able to use what I learned at work in the classroom and visa versa.”

Veronica Orozco, who also received a Master’s of Software Engineering, agreed.

“This experience was insane, overwhelming and totally worth it,” she said.

About the Author:

Leah is the  News and Communications Specialist at Brandeis University, generating content for the university’s website and magazine. Leah also writes for her own blog: wordsbyleah.com

Just Announced: Eric Siegel as GPS Commencement Speaker

April 24, 2014 / / 0 Comments

eric_med_3Brandeis Graduate Professional Studies is pleased to announce our 2014 Commencement speaker for the Rabb School of Continuing Studies Diploma Ceremony, Eric Siegel, PhD.

Eric completed his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University in 1991, and subsequently earned his PhD from Columbia University. Eric is the founder of Predictive Analytics World and Text Analytics World. He is the Executive Editor of the Predictive Analytics Times, and he makes the how and why of predictive analytics understandable and captivating. Eric is the author of Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die and a former Columbia University professor who used to sing to his students. He is a renowned speaker, educator, and leader in the field. He has appeared on Bloomberg TV and Radio, Fox News, BNN (Canada), Israel National Radio, Radio National (Australia), The Street, Newsmax TV, and NPR affiliates. Eric and his book have been featured in Businessweek, CBS MoneyWatch, The Financial Times, Forbes, Forrester, Fortune, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and WSJ MarketWatch.

 

Brandeis Launches MS in Strategic Analytics

October 16, 2013 / / 0 Comments

157523205_4Brandeis University’s division of Graduate Professional Studies announced today it has launched a new Master of Science degree in strategic analytics.

The online program is designed to harness the proliferation of data in all aspects of business using advanced analytic tools. With the advent of “big data,” businesses can reduce risk and improve performance through better-informed decision-making in areas such as revenue management, dynamic pricing and business modeling.

“At leading businesses, analytics is now core to driving strategy, and the demand for expertise in analytics is continuing to blossom,” said Eric Siegel, founder of Predictive Analytics World and author of “Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die.”

The new comprehensive program includes courses focusing on how data are collected, stored, secured, mined and analyzed, along with courses on how analyzed data can be translated into valuable business information to drive strategic decision-making. The program will provide the academic rigor needed to help business leaders and analysts understand how to collect, deploy, analyze and implement data-based decision-making in all phases of their business.

Seven core courses and three electives are required (a total of 30 graduate credits). Students may enroll in up to two courses before officially applying for admission.

“Strategic analytics are critical to the strategic management of any business or organization,” said Leanne Bateman, who chairs the new program. “The management, analysis and use of large data sets at the foundation of any business drive the strategic decisions that increase revenue and reduce costs for the organization.”

Program graduates will be able to:

  • Evaluate and apply analytic tools and techniques to manage large sets of data, distributed data, and cloud-based data
  • Integrate leadership and communication skills with information technology, information management, and data science to maximize business intelligence and decision-making
  • Design innovative, cross-functional data analytics solutions for applied business strategies
  • Identify and assess the opportunities, needs and constraints for data collection, measurement, tracking, analysis, reporting and overall management within a strategic organizational context
  • Identify ways in which data can be analyzed, interpreted, reported and applied to solve or prevent existing or emerging business problems
  • Communicate the value of strategic analytics as it relates to an organization’s bottom line through both revenue increase and expense reduction
  • Bridge the gap between data and the business by effectively communicating analysis results to drive strategic decisions and direction
  • Lead analytics teams and projects

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