This a profile from the 2019 version of the DataIQ 100.
To see the current DataIQ 100 please click here.
DataIQ 100
I’ve never been one of those people who have a meticulous master plan for where they want to be in five years. I tend to just think about what excites and interests me and go after doing it. That was pretty much how I got into this stuff 25 years ago, working as an economist/planner at a building society and it wanted volunteers to work on a customer data/segmentation project. Sounded more fun than economics. From there, I’ve been lucky that what I’ve found interesting seems to have been solving questions that people needed answers for.
Making the DataIQ 100, of course! : -)
Be a one-handed analyst. I think it was President Truman who once said, “give me a one-handed economist. All my economists say, 'on one hand…,' then, 'but on the other…’" and I think this is a curse that still limits how analysts are seen in organisations. Analysts are the people closest to the data, they should always have an opinion and be ready, willing and able to voice it.
Twelve months ago, I think GDPR was such a focus. It’s now business as usual and, touch wood, the wheels don’t seem to have come off. I guess the moral is that if you do the right thing for customers, then you’re probably well on the way to doing the right thing legally as well.
I think the external/macro environment is so up in the air it’s harder than ever to try and answer this sort of question. To slightly misquote George Box, all forecasts are wrong, but some are useful. I think the great thing for data and analysis in 2019 is that the more volatile the environment is then the more people need quality analysis and insights. You can steer by your gut on still waters, but stormy seas are a different matter.
At HomeServe, we’ve just launched a data science apprenticeship scheme aimed at attracting bright young things either direct from university or from inside our own organisation and training them up across a range of computer science, statistics and consulting skills. The scheme includes working with teams in customer data, BI and IT and is hopefully a great opportunity for young talent. I’m massively excited about its potential really to move us forward and grow the skills we need without having to buy them in from the external market.
Influenced by my years at Boots, I think the potential for analytics to transform healthcare over the next ten years is massive. There is great work being done to understand things like the potential of commercial data sets for predicting early incidence of cancer, for example. Hopefully, we’ll see data and analytics making a massive positive contribution to people’s well-being.
DataIQ is a trading name of IQ Data Group Limited
10 York Road, London, SE1 7ND
Phone: +44 020 3821 5665
Registered in England: 9900834
Copyright © IQ Data Group Limited 2024