GDPR as a Forcing Function for Things That Should Have Happened Already

Dateline: April 6, 2018 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. This week we saw new announcements of data breaches affecting millions of individuals.  Delta, Sears, and Under Armor all reported hacks that impact information privacy, highlighting the fact that for just about every company, the question is not "if" but "when" they are hacked.  … [Read more...]

Superbowl 2018 The Patriots vs The Eagles: The Analytics Angle

Dateline: February 2, 2018 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. It's a big weekend for football fans, since the Superbowl is this Sunday.  The New England Patriots are facing the Philadelphia Eagles in Minnesota.  Just full disclosure: while I'm a big Patriots Fan (especially spending so much time in Boston these days), I'm also an Eagles … [Read more...]

Expensive Myths About Big Data

Dateline: October 20, 2017 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. In a world of increasing dependence on data and the data-driven decisions that result, there are still many misconceptions that can send managers off in the wrong direction and cost an organization big bucks.  Mark Wilczek, a digital strategist blogger, recently wrote a blog … [Read more...]

Machine Learning Meets Star Trek

Dateline: October 6, 2017 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. There is a lot of hype about the brave new world possible with machine learning, and it's getting harder to separate the hype from reality.  Machine learning is a lot of things, and it's been around (in various other forms) for a very long time.  Today we see a convergence of … [Read more...]

Equifax’s Reminder: European GDPR On the Horizon

Dateline: September 15, 2017 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. The barrage of articles about Equifax reminds us that our data is not protected, even when we think it is.  As this breach becomes better understood, it raises all types of questions such as how do we protect ourselves? to who would do this? to what is the liability? to will … [Read more...]

Data Driven Decision Making: Trusting the Outcome of Algorithms

Dateline: August 25, 2017 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. We are all technologists of one form or another.  We use, understand and often create technologies that we and others use.  But recently an insightful Sloan Management Review article, titled  When People Don't Trust Algorithms , caught my attention.  The article, University of … [Read more...]

Machine Learning Shows Promise for Data Security

Dateline: July 28, 2017 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. Security of our data continues to be a struggle for many information systems leaders.  Recently an article was published at CIO.com titled, Machine Learning is Transforming Data Security. In this article,  data security was thought to be a big problem in part because of the cost, … [Read more...]

It’s Not Too Late for Machine Learning Innovations

Dateline: April 7, 2017 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. Machine learning and other AI building blocks for business processes is all the rage.  Using advanced technologies such as these to build in predictive capabilities may feel beyond the capabilities of the general manager struggling to feel in control of all the technology … [Read more...]

New EU Data Protection Requirements Might Mean Big Changes

Dateline: March 3, 2017 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. Have you given any thought to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), set to start in about 18 months?  It will give regulators the ability to fine companies for non-compliance.  Companies who do not prepare to govern their data appropriately do so at their … [Read more...]

Ten Technology Trends for 2017 According to Gartner

Dateline: December 23, 2016 Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend. As the year draws to a close, we begin to see predictions about technologies and trends for next year.  So today we share the Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017 which are grouped into three themes: Intelligence, Digital and Mesh.  The 10 trends are: … [Read more...]