We are drowning in numbers, and we no longer understand what they mean. Every day, headlines bombard us with figures meant to inform: billions in spending, trillions in debt, percentages signaling growth or decline. But for most of us, these numbers blur together. They register as “large” or “small,” but almost never as real. And that is more than a math problem. It is a civic one.
INFORMS has awarded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) its 2026 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research and Management Science, for reengineering how global cloud infrastructure is planned and delivered, applying advanced analytics and AI to orchestrate complex fulfillment decisions across its rapidly expanding data center network.
In the rush to adopt artificial intelligence, many employers are now requiring that employees use AI tools. As you’re using AI, be intentional and selective. It’s critical that you know yourself. Research published in Management Science found that AI is most valuable for people who understand their own abilities and limitations. Assess yourself, so you can factor this into your process for incorporating AI into your work.
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Data scientist, named the best job in America for 2016 by job site Glassdoor, is the sexy mashup of traditional careers from data analysis, economics, statistics, computer science and others.
But it goes beyond collecting and analyzing data. It's a job for the curious, for the intuitive and for those who like to not just solve problems but figure out the problem. It's part science, part art.
The rise of data science is due to the explosive growth of data collection — or big data — and the need for companies to make sense of the mishmash of new types of data from smartphones, images, human behavior and even handwriting.
An established code of ethical behavior for analytics professionals already exists.
That code is part and parcel of the Certified Analytics Professional Program (CAP) – a highly regarded professional certification for analytics practitioners managed by INFORMS – the largest international association of professionals in analytics and operations research.
Among other things, the code establishes certain standards for those who call themselves analytics professionals and guidelines for how they should behave and be judged by their peers and employers.
The operations research profession is now #2 in business jobs, up from #4 in 2015. O.R. has also risen to 18 from 20 in the list of 100 best jobs.
In 2008, thousands of children in China fell ill after drinking milk that had been adulterated with the chemical melamine.
This scandal inspired Liying Mu, University of Delaware assistant professor of operations management, to study ways to eliminate this dangerous and common problem.
“Milk adulteration, such as by adding, water, detergent or starch to milk, has been widely reported in many developing countries,” Mu said. “What are the reasons for those adulterations? And how can we solve the problem?”
In two papers published in top journals Management Science and Production and Operations Management, Mu’s team found three key reasons behind the milk adulteration problem, as well as a number of creative solutions.
OR/MS Today is the INFORMS member magazine that shares the latest research and best practices in operations research, analytics and the management sciences.
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Analytics magazine showcases articles and research reports based on big data, AI, machine learning, data analytics and other new-age technologies.
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