Fog and forest_crop

OPINION29 October 2018

Cutting through the data fog

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Data analytics Impact Opinion UK

Connected data approaches mean faster, smarter and more coordinated decision-making argues Nielsen’s UK analytics director, James Oates.

Iā€™m borrowing from Charles Dickens here, but the vast expanse of data available to us can feel overwhelming at times, and the challenge of interpreting it like wading through the foggy landscape he once described in Bleak House. As data analysts, we are required to make the most of the data we have in our organisations, and to find a route through to the insights that lay within.

The MRS conference on analytics earlier this year highlighted the vast range of analytic approaches being adopted across the industry. Regardless of the approach we may take, what struck me most is our collective reliance on connecting different data to add deeper analytic value. Whether it be traditional modelling ā€“ for example, linking weather data to the adoption of a brand or applying social data as a determinant of consumer behaviour ā€“ at the core of all of this is the principle of connecting data to create better analytic findings.