With pot rules under the microscope, some entrepreneurs say Ottawa is stunting the industry's growth
Minister acknowledges some red tape could be cut, action needed on illicit market
The INFORMS Analytics+ Conference showcased how companies are turning advanced analytics and AI into measurable operational results
In most emergency departments, beds are a hot commodity. But some patients don’t actually need a bed for their treatment – and accurately identifying those people is a low-lift but effective way to increase efficiency without sacrificing care quality, finds a study recently published in the journal Management Science.
The researchers developed a simple decision tree, informed by mathematical and machine learning models, to help staff decide whether a patient truly needs a bed or can be routed to a “vertical processing pathway” – that is, an area where they can be treated sitting up. Many hospitals already have such an area but don’t necessarily have a systematic way to decide which patients are treated there.
American teenagers start their school day too early.
Medical experts have been clear for years: sleep cycle changes during puberty make it hard for teenagers to learn in the early morning. Later school start times have been linked to better sleep, improved mental health, stronger academic performance and even safer driving.
Most school district leaders know about this problem and care about fixing it. But changing the schedule can feel operationally impossible.
An audio journey of how data and analytics save lives, save money and solve problems.

Jeff Cohen
Chief Strategy Officer
INFORMS
Catonsville, MD
[email protected]
443-757-3565
Explore our resources for multiple topics including:
Minister acknowledges some red tape could be cut, action needed on illicit market
Beyond the headlines and the politics, many people outside of Ukraine have little idea of how the country is carrying on day-to-day while war rages.
BALTIMORE, MD — It looks like the “best practice” of removing gendered language from job listings may simply have been a “best guess” by managers seeking to increase diversity of applicant pools for their organizations. New research in the INFORMS journal Management Science finds that tweaking the language of job postings to make them more gender-neutral has negligible practical effects on men’s and women’s likelihood of applying for jobs.
BALTIMORE, MD, April 13, 2023 – INFORMS, the largest association for the decision and data sciences, has awarded Walmart, one of the world’s leading retailers, with the 2023 INFORMS Prize, for consistent and innovative dedication to utilizing operations research (O.R.) and analytics in its organizational decision-making for demand forecasting, supply chain and merchandising operations.
AI is big business. Where once robotics was reserved for the futuristic, Elon Musk-types, it’s now a viable tool for all businesses across all sectors. Earlier this month, Air Canada announced its intentions dabble in AI to improve their customer service support, with robotics set to help improve call times in staff centres. And they’re not alone.

OR/MS Today is the INFORMS member magazine that shares the latest research and best practices in operations research, analytics and the management sciences.
Access OR/MS Today Magazine
Analytics magazine showcases articles and research reports based on big data, AI, machine learning, data analytics and other new-age technologies.
Access Analytics Magazine