Business Analytics Center hosted over 400 participants at the Business Analytics Forum 2017 on March 24th at Scheller College of Business. The event began with introductions by BAC Executive Director, Dr. Beverly Wright, followed by the A.M. keynote presentation, Data: It’s the Real Thing given by Reinhard Meister, CEO, Coca-Cola ONE North America, CONA Services. Mr. Meister provided a brief history lesson about Coca-Cola’s historical beginnings and global growth, and followed up sharing the impact of data on Coca-Cola’s marketing and products, and how they conduct business globally.
Following the morning keynote presentation, the forum divided into two tracks where attendees could learn from experts on topics related to structured and unstructured data.
Track A focused on Developing Deeper Insights from Structured Data and offered three sessions.
Session 1, Issues and Solutions for Structured Data Management, was presented by Santosh Kudva, VP of Data and Analytics at GE Power. Dr. Wes Chaar, SVP of Analytics, Data, and Decision Sciences at Turner presented Session 2, Gaining Efficiencies by Creating Scalable Analytics Solutions, where he discussed the company’s innovative use of data and the vital role it plays for Turner’s continued growth and competitiveness. Session 3 rounded out Track A with a presentation, Special Challenges and Data Nuances: A Cautionary Tale, by Carlos Solano, Director of Data Infrastructure, Global Governance Digital Solutions & Insights at Walmart.
Track B, Harnessing Value from Unstructured Data also comprised of three sessions, including Ashok Chennuru, Staff VP of Enterprise Information and Architecture at Anthem presented on Finding and Harnessing True Meanings Using Text Data Mining in Session 1. In Session 2, Trung Tran, Program Manager DARPA, and CEO at Clarcepto spoke on The Challenge of Creating Structure in Streaming Datasets. Finally, Dr. Nikolaos Vasiloglou, Data Science Lead at LogicBlox, presented Session 3 where he discussed How to Make Sense of Cognitive Computing and Natural Language Processing.
Tom Miller, SVP and CIO of Anthem, the P.M. keynote presenter spoke on Harnessing the Power of Data for the Healthcare Revolution and shared how Anthem utilizes their data and pulls true information to develop a better understanding of how to improve their business.
Business Analytics Forum 2017 concluded with a panel discussion, Developing Data-Inspired Leadership, Strategy, and Culture, moderated by Dr. Will Hakes, Managing Director at KPMG. Guest panelist included: Bob Crutchfield, VP of Data and Analytics at Equifax, Scott Reedy, Principal at Axis Group, Pete Johnson, Executive Director of Predictive Analytics and Data Strategy at AT&T, and Dr. Wes Chaar, SVP of Analytics, Data, and Decision Sciences at Turner.
Thanks to these helpful Business Analytics Club Volunteers:
David Salazar (Club president)
Rachel Wiseley (Lead volunteer and Club officer)
Robert Birch, Alexander Walsh, Ayush Agrawal, Vyom Vats, Kyle Hale, Lori Fung, Wayne Liu, Christopher Hunter
David Salazar (Club president)
Rachel Wiseley (Lead volunteer and Club officer)
Robert Birch, Alexander Walsh, Ayush Agrawal, Vyom Vats, Kyle Hale, Lori Fung, Wayne Liu, Christopher Hunter
The Business Analytics Center is extremely grateful to our Executive Council Members: Anthem, AT&T, Axis Group, Coca-Cola, Equifax, McKesson, and Southern Company, which make all things possible for us. We're also thankful to Friends of the Center: KPMG, Walmart, GE Power, and Clarcepto for providing industry expert presenters, panelists, and participants which made for an engaging and highly successful Business Analytics Forum 2017.