Data analytics

The Future of Data Analytics in Football

In brief:  In this article, the former Head of Football Strategy for Everton, Richard Battle, gives his predictions on how football data science and analytics will develop over the next five years. Battle believes that clubs will move away from environments where people try to build and sell systems that do everything to an acceptance that clubs will use many different software pieces. He states that ETL and DS tools will become more widely used by clubs in order to store this data. He believes that the industry is a long way from using ML to make key decisions such as which player to sign but says that for now clubs “should aim to use data as best we can to inform, support and challenge the most important decisions made within a training ground context. After that, with the right quality assurance processes, everything will take care of itself.”

Why this is important: Football clubs are constantly looking to new technologies to give them the edge. By looking at how they plan to use DS applications in the future, we can see how the industry is moving forward. 

Real-Time Data & Analytics in a Downturn

In brief:  This article takes Core Technology Molding as a case study of how a company can continue to thrive during testing times. The firm is a custom injection molding manufacturer which is seeing reductions in automotive assembly and component forecasts as new car orders begin to slow down. On the other hand, orders and new projects with biological pharmaceutical and medical device customers continue to increase in response to the chronic supplies shortage healthcare providers are facing around the world today. The team is combining real-time monitoring, analytics, and automation all coordinated through its ERP system to keep its employees safe and produce much-needed medical products. The company is utilising a strong manufacturing data foundation combined with Six Sigma expertise, enabling its staff to work from home by accessing real-time monitoring data, analytics, and reports from their ERP system and using a data-driven approach to production strategies.

Why this is important: Putting employees first and protecting them by combining real-time monitoring, analytics, and automation to streamline production enables manufacturers to keep producing much-needed medical supplies and serve customers.

  

Whistleblower Attacks Apple Over Data

In brief:  A former contractor for Apple, Thomas le Bonnie, has written to every European data protection regulator in order to highlight failings in data protection, through its virtual assistant, Siri. Le Bonnie and other colleagues initially revealed the issues with Apple’s use of consumer data in 2019. Apple acknowledged the accusations and apologised for “not […] fully living up to our high ideals”, promising a series of changes to how they handle data. Le Bonnie believes that they have yet to face consequences for their actions and has therefore involved the regulators and spoken to the Guardian for this article. The letter says: “I am extremely concerned that big tech companies are basically wiretapping entire populations despite European citizens being told the EU has one of the strongest data protection laws in the world. Passing a law is not good enough: it needs to be enforced upon privacy offenders.”

Why this is important: Working in the field of data, we are always walking a thin line between obtaining the maximum benefit while retaining the customers' privacy. Huge companies like Apple have access to massive amounts of their clients’ data. How they obtain, store, and treat this information will shape the future of Data Science - and the world.