Recommendations on privacy, data access and compliance
.@philsimon chimes in with trust- and privacy-related recommendations
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Winsorization: The good, the bad, and the ugly
On discussion forums, I often see questions that ask how to Winsorize variables in SAS. For example, here are some typical questions from the SAS Support Community: I want an efficient way of replacing (upper) extreme values with (95th) percentile. I have a data set with around 600 variables and
Tip for coding your color values in SAS Enterprise Guide
Colors are the subject of many romantic poems and songs, but there isn't much romance to be found in their hexadecimal values. With apologies to Van Morrison: ...Skipping and a jumping In the misty morning fog with Our hearts a thumpin' and you My cx662F14 eyed girl When it comes
Using Chinese characters as labels on SAS Maps
Doing business in a global economy, have you ever found yourself wanting to show Chinese (or Korean, or Japanese) labels on a map? If so, then this blog is for you! Before we get started, here is a photo of some Chinese characters to get you into the mood. This
What I Learned at a Rap Concert or Utilizing Support Systems in Times of Change
On any inauguration day in our country’s history people probably found themselves in one of three categories: happy & hopeful, disappointed & apprehensive, or apathetic & checked-out. Change is difficult, whether you perceive it as positive or negative. This blog is not to share which category I fall into but
It's time to stop the reactionary compliance tactics
The financial sector has always been subjected to regulatory compliance laws and directives. Consumers, lawmakers and politicians would expect no less. But it's fair to say that the financial sector has witnessed a "hockey stick" trend regarding new regulations in recent years.
What colors does PROC SGPLOT use for markers?
Suppose you create a scatter plot in SAS with PROC SGPLOT. What color does PROC SGPLOT use for the markers? If you specify the GROUP= option so that markers are colored by a grouping variable, what colors are used to represent the various groups? The following scatter plot shows the
3 attributes of an open and unified analytics environment
Having addressed the adaptability and power of an analytics environment in my last two posts, I thought I'd close out this mini-series of blogs by providing the business and technology implications of three attributes that need to define any truly open and unified analytics environment: Cohesion Business: The platform enables
How can the Internet of Things help government agencies?
It was just a few years ago that the idea of an Internet of Things (IoT) seemed far off, something out of a science-fiction movie. After all, why would a vehicle need to talk to the road? Why would our utility meters need to talk to the central office? The
Data Preparation und Self-Service für Analytics, ich kann es nicht mehr hören!
„Die IT liefert nicht, der Fachbereich weiß nicht, was er heute oder morgen an Daten haben will“… Beide haben recht, ein Dilemma, das darin endet, dass Selbsthilfe betrieben wird. Der Informationshunger besteht weiterhin, und was nicht geliefert wird, besorgt man sich auf anderem Wege. Da wären: die SAP-Maske, Excel, Datenbank(en),
Automatic forecasting and FVA (Part 2 of 2)
To make it easy to identify non-value adding areas, you can build a simple application using SAS® Visual Analytics software. Such an application lets you point and click your way through the organization’s forecasting hierarchy, and at each point view performance of the Naïve, Manual, Statistical, and Automated forecasts (or
When privacy and compliance collide with the need for speedy access to data
.@philsimon says that, once again, there's quite a bit to learn from Amazon.
Analytics-as-a-Service: agiler Ansatz für mehr Flexibilität im Tagesgeschäft
2017 stehen die Themen Big Data und Analytics immer noch ganz oben auf der Agenda. Doch Gott sei Dank ist die Diskussion nun einen Schritt weiter und dreht sich um die geschäftlichen Auswirkungen der Technologie. Wie kann der Einsatz von Analytics-as-a-Service den Umsatz erhöhen, Kosten reduzieren oder einen Wettbewerbsvorteil sichern?
Simulate many samples from a linear regression model
In a previous article, I showed how to simulate data for a linear regression model with an arbitrary number of continuous explanatory variables. To keep the discussion simple, I simulated a single sample with N observations and p variables. However, to use Monte Carlo methods to approximate the sampling distribution
Automatic forecasting and FVA (Part 1 of 2)
To properly evaluate (and improve) forecasting performance, we recommend our customers use a methodology called Forecast Value Added (FVA) analysis. FVA lets you identify forecasting process waste (activities that are failing to improve the forecast, or are even making it worse). The objective is to help the organization generate forecasts
How to create a 'pretty' map with SAS
I usually create very technical maps, to display data spatially - and they usually have a certain look. They're clear, crisp, and to the point. I typically only use color to represent the data, and I choose a font that is simple and easy to read (such as arial). But
How can data help the most vulnerable victims of human trafficking?
Did you know that January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month in the United States? If not, you may not know that researchers estimate that human trafficking is a global industry with revenues from $51 to $99 billion annually, up from $32 billion just a few years ago. In this case,
How to make your pie chart worse
You have all seen, or perhaps even created, some really bad graphics: Cluttered, confusing, too small, incomprehensible. Or worse, the author may have committed one of the three unforgivable sins of data visualization by deceptively distorting a map, truncating the axis so as to misrepresent the data, or used double
Man muss auch mal über den Tellerrand visualisieren können …
Unendliche Weiten … nein, heute meine ich damit mal nicht das gute alte Raumschiff Enterprise (übrigens 50-jähriges Jubiläum), sondern die Möglichkeiten, die sich einem auftun, wenn man bereit ist, sich auf etwas Neues einzulassen. Eigentlich ist das ziemlich einfach: Man schaut sich bei Leuten um, die aus einer vollkommen anderen
Automate the creation of a discrete attribute map
If you are a SAS programmer and use the GROUP= option in PROC SGPLOT, you might have encountered a thorny issue: if you use a WHERE clause to omit certain observations, then the marker colors for groups might change from one plot to another. This happens because the marker colors
It’s data integration, but not as we know it
I’ve had several meetings lately on data management, and especially integration, where the ability to explore alternatives has been critical. And the findings from our internet of things (IoT) early adopters survey confirms that the ecosystem nature of data sources in IoT deployments means we need to expand the traditional
Analytisches Aufspüren versteckter Gefahrenfelder: die EU-Datenschutz-Grundverordnung
Am 28. Januar war Europäischer Datenschutztag und ab sofort gilt dann verschärftes EU-Recht – so kommt es einem zumindest vor bei Gesprächen mit Datenschutz-Experten, bei ihrem Streben, die neue EU-Datenschutz-Grundverordnung (DSGVO) zu bewältigen. Was ist schutzwürdig? Alles bekannt Personenbezogene, sowieso. Mehr aber noch das Unbekannte.
Guest blogger Len Tashman previews Winter 2017 issue of Foresight
Preview of the Winter 2017 issue of Foresight Foresight begins the new year with our 44th issue since the journal began publishing in 2005, and in this Winter 2017 collection we’re showcasing a broad range of incisive and entertaining pieces. We’re looking at new research on the effectiveness of collaboration
3 attributes that define a powerful analytics environment
In my last post I described "4 adaptability attributes for analytical success," and in the past I've discussed the strategic role analytics play in helping organizations succeed now and into the future. Now I'd like to discuss three attributes that define a powerful analytics environment: Speed Accuracy Scalability [NOTE: Any
Balancing privacy concerns for analytics design
I've been working on a pilot project recently with a client to test out some new NoSQL database frameworks (graph databases in particular). Our goal is to see how a different storage model, representation and presentation can enhance the usability and ease of integration for master data indexes and entity
4 tips for the utility data scientist
Tell me if you’ve heard this before: Your company hired (or re-titled) a talented data scientist and they have great skills and no data. Or they're marginalized by IT because they're misunderstood. They're offered “cleansed” data that will fit into the hardware provisioned. What they want is “all” relevant data
Something for geeks and nerds to do at Disney World!
Are you one of those people who get easily bored at amusement parks? Would you like something to do while your friends/family are waiting in line for a ride? Perhaps I have an alternate idea, to keep you busy - survey markers! When surveyors are measuring and marking areas for
Simulate data for a linear regression model
This article shows how to simulate a data set in SAS that satisfies a least squares regression model for continuous variables. When you simulate to create "synthetic" (or "fake") data, you (the programmer) control the true parameter values, the form of the model, the sample size, and magnitude of the
Step into the wonderful world of SAS Enterprise Miner
Editor's note (10/25/17): You can practice what you learned in class with 15 hours of Free virtual lab time when you attend the in-person or Live Web Applied Analytics Using SAS Enterprise Miner class. Register now. Are you interested in taking an advanced course on the machine learning topic of Neural Networks? Does text
Panama papers: Can tax departments (finally!) eradicate tax havens?
Historically, tax havens have been a key tool for tax evaders to store and hide unreported and untaxed money. I would agree with most observers that the Panama papers (11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial information for more than 214,488 offshore entities) are just the tip of the tax