Analytics

January/February issue of Analytics Magazine

This time every year, pundits and publications are stuffed with predictions about the new year (not the holiday), so you see headlines like “The Top 20 Security Predictions for 2020 Government” and “12 Reasons 2020 will be an Awesome Year.” For the record, those are actual headlines from a couple of tech websites, Government Technology and Innovation on NBCNews.com, respectively. Because 2020 is not only a new year, it’s also the start of a new decade, many prognosticators are going further out on a limb and making predictions about 10 years hence. And why not? Since “predictive analytics” occupies the largest space in the analytics galaxy, it only makes sense that those in and around the field are compelled to make predictions about any new year or decade. I’m not sure how much, if any, data-based decision-making is involved in this particular predictive process, but who’s going to call out the prognosticators a year or a decade from now?

As a rule, I don’t make such predictions for a very good reason: I’m not qualified. I have no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow, let alone a year or 10 years from now. Sure, I could take a guess, but then I’m reminded of the familiar quote often attributed to the late New York Yankees catcher/philosopher Yogi Berra: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Yogi got it mostly right; he just forgot to insert the word “accurate” before “predictions.”

While I leave the predicting to others, as the editor of Analytics magazine and OR/MS Today (the membership magazine of INFORMS), my job is to report on, gather, edit and determine what to publish from industry and academic leaders of the greater analytics community regarding what they have to say about any number of relevant analytics topics, including industry predictions and trends. What I hear from them is that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will continue to dominate the analytics space going forward, but with a few twists. For example, organizations have poured a lot of money into AI over the past few years and have relatively little to show for it. Now they are demanding a return on their investment. Turns out that AI is not a magic wand; it needs to be integrated with machine learning and other technologies and systems in order to produce results. Expect more of that in 2020.

I’ll end with one prediction: Readers will find many articles of interest in, as well as AI sprinkled throughout, the January/February 2020 of Analytics magazine, starting with a double dose of healthcare analytics and a double shot of the crucial consulting skill of communication. Co-authors Jeff Terry of GRE Healthcare Partners and Ian Worden of CHI Franciscan (“2020 Trends in Health Analytics”) and columnist Rajib Ghosh of Health Roads, LLC (“New decade of hope, excitement for healthcare analytics and technology”) supply the healthcare coverage, while Askdata CEO Simone Di Somma (“How to Make Your Nontechnical Team Care About Technical Business Data”) and InfoLogix chief scientist Doug Samuelson (“How Powerful Writing Changes Lives”) champion the power of effective communication.

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