You’ve probably heard the stats about the number of internet-connected devices, which make up the Internet of Things (IoT). Most likely, you’re part of the narrative. We're all connected in new ways and through more devices than ever before. Sometimes IoT impacts our daily lives – safety sensors on cars,
As the old saying goes, the only constant is change. The corollary that I’ll add is this: and the pace of change feels like it's directly proportional to Moore’s Law. Utilities used to be favorites for conservative investors. Smooth. Steady. When there was change, it was incremental. But today, uncertainty
The fourth edition of the series brings me to Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch government agency responsible for the main connecting infrastructure in the Netherlands (roads, bridges, waterways and water systems). I talked with Bas van Essen who’s responsible for RWS Datalab, the big data lab within Rijkswaterstaat (RWS). Company Overview RWS
The paradigm in which we have all lived in an electrified world is changing. The convergence of technology, changing business models, and increasing customer expectations means the way utilities have operated for the last 100+ years must change. Further, this change must embrace where the operations side of the business
Data with a geographic component begs to be mapped. That capability is now available to all SAS users. A new mapping procedure in the fifth maintenance release of 9.4 (SAS 9.4M5) allows any user to easily plot data on a map. Unlike previous mapping applications with SAS, the SGMAP procedure
No cabe duda que la tecnología Blockchain está llamada a ser una de las grandes revoluciones en el mundo en los próximos años. Se ha llegado a afirmar que hará por las transacciones lo que internet ha hecho por la información y las comunicaciones; va a cambiar definitivamente la forma
I recently read an interesting article about petroleum coke (petcoke). A lot of it is produced in the US, and lately a lot of it is consumed (burned) in India ... contributing to air pollution there. The article mentioned some numbers in the text, but the data was really begging to
In my previous post, I described a new options to control the widths of the caps for Whiskers, Error and Limit bars. This topic could have been titled "Little things go a long way", as such details really make for a good graph. In a similar manner, another detail issue
In the previous post, I discussed creating a 2D grid of spark lines by Year and Claim Type. This graph was presented in the SESUG conference held last week on SAS campus in the paper ""Methods for creating Sparklines using SAS" by Rick Andrews. This grid of sparklines was actually the
The 25th annual SESUG conference was held at in the SAS campus this week. I had the opportunity to meet and chat with many users and attend many excellent presentations. I will write about those that stood out (graphically) in my view. One excellent presentation was on "Methods for creating
“El amor en los tiempos del cólera” novela escrita por Gabriel García Márquez, habla de la evolución de un amor que perduró años hasta consumarse de una manera especial. Florencio (protagonista de la historia) espera de una manera tenaz el amor de Fermina, quien al final de la historia acepta
Once in a while you run into a pesky situation that is hard to overcome without resorting to major surgery. Such a situation occurs when you have a stacked bar chart with a discrete legend positioned vertically on the side of the graph. A simple example is shown below. title
Plot statements included in the graph definition can contribute to the legend(s). This can happen automatically, or can be customized using the KEYLEGEND statement. For plot statements that are classified by a group variable, all of the unique group values are displayed in the legend, along with their graphical representation
The previous post on Multiple Blank Categories showed how to include multiple blank categories on the axis. But, given the purpose for this was to separate different segments in the data, I also included ideas on how to segmented a discrete axis using reference lines or Block Plot. A similar idea
Off and on, users have expressed the need to include multiple blank categories on a discrete axis. Often, this is desirable to separate groups of bars (or categories) in a graph due to some difference their definition. Such a case was discussed in this blog article on using non breaking
ODS Graphics procedures primarily strive towards the following goal: "Make simple graphs easy and complex graphs possible". SGPLOT procedure allows you create simple graphs with a single plot statement, and create complex graphs by layering together or combining multiple plot statements. Generally, the appearance follows the guidelines set by industry
SAS 9.4 maintenance release 5 was released on Sept 19, 2017. This release includes many new items including integration with SAS Viya and SAS Studio, a web application for SAS development. Also Included with this release are some cool new features in the graphics domain, some of which were requested
After a few tough years in the trenches, analytics leaders in utilities are emerging and making a difference as their utilities vie to stay relevant in the ever-changing energy landscape. At the core of this emergence are leaders that are embracing open analytics platforms and pushing analytics to the edge.
On a recent visit to an In-House Users Group meeting at a Pharmaceutical company, I presented a 1/2 day seminar on creating Clinical Graphs using SG Procedures. Polling the audience for their experience with these procedures indicated that many SAS users are not familiar with these new ways to create graphs. So,
Die EU-Datenschutz-Grundverordnung kommt näher – ausweichen oder draufhalten? In den letzten Wochen hatte ich die tolle Gelegenheit mit zahlreichen Kunden und Partnern über die neue EU-Datenschutz-Grundverordnung (DS-GVO) zu sprechen. Die Meinungen und Erwartungen sind dabei wirklich außerordentlich breit gefächert. Das ist nicht weiter verwunderlich, denn das Thema hat zuletzt stark an
In the recent article, “Price-bots can collude against consumers,” the Economist discusses the consumer effects of prices set by price-bots. The article starts with an example of gasoline pricing strategies on Martha’s Vineyard. With a small number of gas stations on the island, the price-bots can cover all competitor prices frequently
Widespread flooding. Downed power lines. Broken poles. Failed transformers and breakers. Leaking pipes. Shut down refineries. The toll that a catastrophic storm takes on the energy value chain is significant. A functioning power grid, clean water and reliable fuel sources are critical for public safety and economic recovery. Even with
There is an expression in the military that goes something like this: Military leaders train and prepare for the next war using available information, which typically means they're planning for the last (previous) war -- and that's a recipe for disaster. So what does this have to do with utilities
If you know me, you probably know that I spend a lot of time on the water. I like speed paddling (dragon boat, outrigger canoe, surfski, and racing SUP), and I also have a big pontoon boat at Jordan Lake where I try to go fishing at least once a
In an increasingly complicated operating environment, the global oil and gas industry struggles to optimize their asset portfolio. Producers combat severe challenges inherent to aging facilities in the context of pricing volatility. Change is the new constant, as the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry means that producers
The dramatic drop in crude oil prices from the highs above $100USD per barrel down to levels around $50 per barrel is one of the drivers behind the industry’s march towards improved operating efficiency. Along the corridors of Independent Oil Companies (IOCs) and National Oil Companies (NOCs), machine learning and
Carbon Dioxide ... CO2. Humans breathe out 2.3 pounds of it per day. It's also produced when we burn organic materials & fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and natural gas). Plants use it for photosynthesis, which in turn produces oxygen. It is also a greenhouse gas, which many claim
Regulations, corporate drivers, leadership and market influences have combined to produce a patchwork of uneven progress on initiatives such as distributed generation, customer choice, asset optimization and the industrial Internet of Things. These initiatives all rely on analytics to gain the most return on investment. To better understand organizational readiness
Ya no se trata de imaginar cosas. Cada día las empresas enfrentan miles de desafíos. Desde decisiones de negocio hasta procesos operativos, pasando por la manera de relacionarse con sus clientes o de preparar los informes de cumplimientos regulatorios o cuidarse de los ataques o fraudes. No son escenarios que
When presenting information in form of a graph we show the data and let the reader draw the inferences. However, often one may want to draw the attention of the reader towards some aspect of the graph or data. For one such case, a user asked how to highlight one
