Data governance seems to be the hottest topic at data-related conferences this year, and the question I get asked most often is, “where do we start?” Followed closely by how do we do it, what skills do we need, how do we convince the rest of the organisation to get
Let me make this clear right from the start: I needed to answer 44 of the 62 exam questions correctly to earn my BASE SAS Programmer certification, and I got exactly 44 right. No margin of error. I never thought I’d be proud of a 70%, but I’m more than
In some applications, you need to optimize a linear objective function of many variables, subject to linear constraints. Solving this problem is called linear programming or linear optimization. This article shows two ways to solve linear programming problems in SAS: You can use the OPTMODEL procedure in SAS/OR software or
"Two weeks to go," Santa said to himself, with millions of toys stacked up on the shelves. Each year worry hit at the same time – "How do I get the right toy to the right child without losing my mind?" Though Old St. Nick didn't have a computer science degree, deep down
I recently met Mrs. Claus at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, where we got to talking about the social network analysis session she’d just attended. It turns out Mrs. Claus and I are both fans of a book by Alex Pentland, Social Physics: How Social Networks Can Make Us Smarter. Apparently
During a data quality assessment, one of my clients discovered that a large chunk of data that ultimately fed into their business analytics engine was sourced externally. After examining the contracts surrounding this data, I found that 100% of it failed to possess service-level agreements (SLAs) for the quality of
Ready for another (soon to be classic) fun, custom-made for IT holiday jingle?? Fire up the hot chocolate, gather around the water cooler and belt this one out at the upcoming office party: Have a holly, jolly smart grid It's about time we upgraded our electric infrastructure I don't know
“Analytics” and “data scientist” aren’t new terms, but they are trending buzzwords. The popularity of these concepts has created a false impression: Analytics are mysterious abstractions that can only be decoded if you have a white lab coat and an advanced degree in computer science. The reality couldn’t be more different.
Karen, in unserem letzten Gespräch haben wir über die Bedeutung von professionellem Datenqualitäts-Management und über die erforderliche organisatorische Einbettung gesprochen. Jetzt möchte ich etwas konkreter werden. Beschreibe doch mal, worauf es bei der Umsetzung ankommt? Wie sollte sich ein solcher Data Governance Prozess gestalten?
I was surprised to learn recently that despite the reams of laws and policies directing the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) across industries and government agencies, more than 50 million Medicare beneficiaries were issued cards with a Medicare Beneficiary Number that's based on their Social Security Number (SSN). That's
Out of the bosom of the Air, Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, Over the woodlands brown and bare, Over the harvest-fields forsaken, Silent, and soft, and slow Descends the snow. "Snow-flakes" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Happy holidays to all my readers! In my last post I showed
Clinical research generates extensive amounts of data, yet most of it is siloed or generally unavailable to a larger pool of willing potential researchers. If this data were liberated to the masses, we would venture into a world of endless possibilities where the search for new cures and treatments could
Die letzten Jahre zeigen deutlich, wie rasant das Datenaufkommen in den Unternehmen wächst. Laut einer Prognose von Statista wird das Volumen der jährlich generierten digitalen Datenmenge weltweit in den kommenden 5 Jahren um das 5-fache (in Exabyte) steigen. Dies stellt sowohl die IT als auch die Fachbereiche vor immense Herausforderungen.
You've probably seen dramatic pictures in the news lately about the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline - Native Americans versus bulldozers, protesters and tipis in a blizzard, and things like that. But do you really know much about this pipeline? For example, where will it go, and where have the
With educator preparation programs (EPPs) under fire, states must make difficult decisions on how to hold EPPs accountable, provide information for program improvement, and offer consumer information to the public on EPP efficacy. In conversations I’ve had with state leaders grappling with this issue, I have seen a debate arise
Historically, before data was managed it was moved to a central location. For a long time that central location was the staging area for an enterprise data warehouse (EDW). While EDWs and their staging areas are still in use – especially for structured, transactional and internally generated data – big
I have a fondness for fractals. In previous articles, I've used SAS to create some of my favorite fractals, including a fractal Christmas tree and the "devil's staircase" (Cantor ) function. Because winter is almost here, I think it is time to construct the Koch snowflake fractal in SAS. A
Being an industry disruptor is a lonely place to be – but if you’re successful, the rewards are well worth the initial risk. Betting big on your new way of doing things takes courage, and is only the first step in a risky process. Your next critical step is to
Are you ready for the supermoon on December 14? This will actually be the 3rd supermoon in 2016! With these big-looking full moons we're having this year, I got to wondering exactly how big is the moon compared to Earth? This seems like a good question to answer with some
It's that festive time of year again, so you may want to build yourself a fire and grab a cup of hot chocolate as you prepare for a rousing round of holiday/IT joy. Grab your co-workers and gather around the water cooler while singing along to this post and others
In the first blog of this four-part series, we discussed traditional data management and how we can apply these principles to our big data platforms. We also discussed how metadata can help bridge the gap of understanding the data as we move to newer technologies. Part 2 will focus on
This student projections post kicks off a series highlighting education leaders sharing the celebrations, and challenges, of using data to drive school improvement. These are real teachers, principals and superintendents working to foster academic growth for every student in their schools and districts. As we near the end of the first
As technology expands, we have a similarly increasing need to create programs that can be handed off – to clients, to regulatory agencies, to parent companies, or to other projects – and handed off with little or no modification needed by the recipient. Minimizing modification by the recipient often requires
Parents are always proud of their kids, and think their kids are better than all the other kids. I guess it might be a little bit that way with mapping software ... but I really do think I've got a pretty compelling example to show that SAS maps are better
@philsimon says that it's downright silly to ignore the benefits of thinking about data-related issues in different and unexpected ways.
Many SAS procedure compute statistics and also compute confidence intervals for the associated parameters. For example, PROC MEANS can compute the estimate of a univariate mean, and you can use the CLM option to get a confidence interval for the population mean. Many parametric regression procedures (such as PROC GLM)
As technology evolves, so do the c-suite roles related to technology. In particular, the roles of Chief Digital Officer and Chief Data Officer – both referred to as CDO – have seen rapid changes. This post will document the changes I've observed in these two roles, and answer questions I've heard as our customers have been navigating the
When protecting children, “entity resolution” can reduce the things agencies don’t know they don’t know. It’s a technological capability I wish I’d had when I led a child protective services agency. I have been involved in hundreds of determinations that would alter a child’s life trajectory. I was comfortable with
The cybersecurity challenge exemplifies how global threats have evolved and how governments must combat them. For all the complexity of the Cold War, the United States defense officials knew the nations that posed the biggest threat. The world is much different today. As General Michael Hayden (ret.), former Director of the National Security
Impulse und Orientierung in Zeiten der Digitalisierung: über 300 Teilnehmer vor Ort, mehr als 250 Zuschauer im Livestream. Wer noch einen Beweis dafür brauchte, dass digitale Transformation und die Rolle, die Analytics dabei spielen kann, Unternehmen und Menschen in hohem Maße beschäftigen, der fand ihn am 22. November 2016 eindrucksvoll
