In my last post, I discussed some practical steps you can take to collect the right information for justifying why your business should design and implement a data strategy. Having identified weaknesses in your environment that could impede business success, your next step is to drill down deeper to determine where there may be
The World Health Organization recently declared the Zika virus a global public health emergency. This virus is spread by certain mosquitoes, and therefore if we know where those mosquitoes are located, then we've got a pretty good idea of where the virus might spread. Before we get to the numbers, here
Last week I showed how to use PROC EXPAND to compute moving averages and other rolling statistics in SAS. Unfortunately, PROC EXPAND is part of SAS/ETS software and not every SAS site has a license for SAS/ETS. For simple moving averages, you can write a DATA step program, as discussed
It is said that everything is big in Texas, and that includes big data. During my recent trip to Austin I had the privilege of being a judge in the final round of the Texata Big Data World Championship, a fantastic example of big data competitions. It felt fitting that
Groundhog Day is one of those quirky bits of Americana that add richness and flavor to life. Everyone likes Groundhog Day. It’s a fun, light-hearted way to cope with the cold, dark days of winter. Taxes, on the other hand, are not so fun and light-hearted. Mention the word “taxes”
With data now impacting nearly every business activity, there should no longer be any doubt that data needs to be managed as a strategic corporate asset. This post examines the top five characteristics of a strong data strategy. Existence As I previously blogged, in today’s fast-moving business world now often takes priority
I recently read an article about the major challenges electric utilities are facing in 2016, and I thought: "Wow, those challenges can be answered in so many ways..." Utilities are dealing with an onslaught of issues which can no longer be ignored or put off because they're all high priority and interrelated. But
Is cognitive computing an application of text mining? If you have asked this question, you are not alone. In fact, lately I have heard it quite often. So what is cognitive computing, really? A cognitive computing system, as stated by Dr. John E. Kelly III, is one that has the
While setting up meetings with business consumers developing a data warehouse environment, I was involved in some very interesting conversations. Following are some of the assumptions that were made during these conversations, as well as a few observations. To get a well-rounded view of this topic, read my earlier post that focuses on the IT perspective.
What do you think is the most important new feature in SAS/STAT? Well it depends! In this video, SAS developers talk about their new work and which customers will be excited about it and why. Healthcare professionals may lean toward the new rare events control charts in QC, which allows
Editor Len Tashman's preview of the Winter 2016 issue of Foresight This 40th issue of Foresight begins with a review of the new book by Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner with the enticing title Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction. Reviewer Steve Morlidge explains that …the “superforecasters” of the
Ich bin ein Betroffener! Vom Digital-naiv zum Digital-native mittel Transformation - Der Mensch hat nur eine kurze Zeitspanne in seinem Leben, in der er regelrecht nach Veränderungen schreit – nämlich im Windelalter, wenn die Besagte mal wieder bis zum Rand voll ist – ansonsten halten sich die Freuden über Veränderungen
Novice SAS programmers quickly learn the advantages of using PROC SORT to sort data, followed by a BY-group analysis of the sorted data. A typical example is to analyze demographic data by state or by ZIP code. A BY statement enables you to produce multiple analyses from a single procedure
Vor ein paar Wochen hatte ich ein seltsames Erlebnis mit meiner Versicherung… Ich las auf einer meiner Nachrichtenseite im Internet einen Artikel über einen neuen Telematiktarif meiner Autoversicherung. Das fiel bei mir unter die Kategorie: Verbesserung des Kundenerlebnisses. Denn die Aussicht, Geld zu sparen, machte mich neugierig, also ging ich
Universities using data is a topic close to SAS’ heart, and in a recent blog we talked about the specific challenges that UK universities face in attracting and keeping students, and how data can help universities better understand the student lifecycle. The first Universities and College Admissions Services (UCAS) deadline
A honey bee can live for 8 years ... but a black garden ant can live even 20 years longer than that! Learn more details, and other interesting trivia, in this blog on "the longevity of things." I recently found The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, and was fascinated by
.@philsimon on the convergence between tools such as Hadoop and strategy.
The Internet of Things (IoT), sensors and connected devices are all the buzz leading up to DistribuTECH (Feb 9-11), so I sat down with one of our IoT specialists, Lorry Hardt to learn more. Lorry will be at DistribuTECH to support our joint demonstration with Intel and gave me the
People often seek out our company for guidance related to master data management, data governance and data quality. But I see a frequent pattern, where the customer presumes that they need a particular data management solution – even if there is no specific data management problem. This approach is often triggered in reaction
A common question on SAS discussion forums is how to compute a moving average in SAS. This article shows how to use PROC EXPAND and contains links to articles that use the DATA step or macros to compute moving averages in SAS. In a previous post, I explained how to
The East Coast of the US got quite a snowstorm this past weekend, but did your area get enough snow to brag about? Let's see what the data says... Before we get started, here are a couple pictures of the snow. The first one is from my driveway - we didn't
When he filmed the scene in the summer of '69, my Dad did not foresee his moment of fame in 2016. But in the last two days, Dad has seen his 47-year-old work appear in the local Buffalo, NY media, on DailyMail.com, and on FOX News*. In August of 1969,
The other day I was in a meeting with a client and there was an argument about who owns the data. Those arguing were IT people. In this scenario, the assumption was that data from source systems would flow into and integrate with a data warehouse. I found the discussion very interesting. Here are some of the
Um das herauszufinden, experimentiere ich gerne mit meiner Lieblings-Analytics-Software: SAS Visual Analytics (VA). Denn hier gibt es die Out-of-the-box Schnittstelle zu Twitter und Facebook, und damit schnellen und einfachen Zugriff auf viele, wirklich viele Kommentare und Postings zu aktuellen Branchen-Themen. SAS Forum - 28. April, Bonn: weitere Infos klicken Sie
A moving average (also called a rolling average) is a statistical technique that is used to smooth a time series. Moving averages are used in finance, economics, and quality control. You can overlay a moving average curve on a time series to visualize how each value compares to a rolling
Hi, there! First of all, let me introduce myself, as this is my first blog. I am Simran Bagga, and three weeks ago I became the Product Manager for Text Analytics at SAS. This role might be new to me, but text analytics is not. For the past 12 years,
The East Coast is having lots of snow and ice storms today, and SAS headquarters is officially closed. But I thought it would be a great day to get a few things done! And among those few things is "write a snow-related blog". Hope you enjoy it! After 21 years of
En México las industrias como Telecomunicaciones, Retail, Sector Público y Financiero, tienen un peso importante por el impulso que tienen hacia otros sectores y sobre todo por la apertura laboral en el país, gracias a su constante crecimiento. Estas empresas se han mantenido fuertes gracias a la constante innovación que
“What keeps you awake at night?” my colleague asked me. At the time, I was a child protective services administrator responsible for thousands of at risk children on any given day. While there were many things that weighed on my mind, worker turnover created many sleepless nights, and days filled
The role of insurance is to bring some predictability, manageability and stability in what is in essence, a chaotic and uncertain world. So as we head into 2016, what are the big issues for insurers in the next 12 months? Below is just a selection of some of these issues:
