How I got in the TOP10 of Linkedin’s most viewed profiles
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
8 weeks ago I started an experiment. I wanted to jump into the TOP10 most viewed profiles of my Linkedin network. I succeeded. Read further if you want to find out how I achieved jumping from the 100th place to…
French Universities scandalous selection algorithm revealed
Big Data technologies and in particular selection algorithms attract more and more criticism from libertarian advocates. I echoed growing concerns myself in an article calling for more transparent algorithms. French newspaper Liberation revealed that National Education ministry faces legal pressure…
Data Scientists are NOT the solution
In a recent meeting with Big Data managers in the broadcasting industry, one complaint came over and over again. Data scientists have no feeling for business, and business people even less for statistics and Big Data. How to bridge the…
Big Data can save lives
At the conference organized together by Microsoft Europe and Louvain University, Adeline Decuyper proposed a fresh look at Big Data. She rightly made the point that Big Data can also serve non commercial purposes and contribute to Greater Good. She…
Big Data : what are the trends in the retail and insurance sectors ?
In partnership with Microsoft Europe (Brussels), the University of Louvain (Belgium) organized a conference on 13 May where I discussed the future impact of Big Data in the retail and insurance sectors. I started by outlining the 4 sectors that…
The Financial Times found the most perfect KPI’s to measure success
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
The success of any marketing action needs to be measured with the right KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). The Financial Times found a unique KPI that allows outstanding predictions of their churn rate. Read further to learn more. KPI’s are difficult…
Will banks sell your data to retailers?
Your bank knows a lot about you and, as a matter of fact, the banking sector has been investing huge amount in Big Data for years. Similarly retailers know also a lot about you through the purchases you make. Is…
Insurances : towards the end of the risk sharing principle ?
There is one very important underlying principle of any insurance : risk sharing. Good drivers cover a part of the risk of bad drivers; people in good health pay for those who fall ill. Americans call this a “socialist” way…
Mobile Me : your car has no secrets for Mercedes
Nowadays cars can be connected with your smartphone ; not only to make calls but also to control your car at distance. The Mercedes Me application enables the owner to monitor basic and more advanced functionalities of the vehicle through…
Service quality : the next retail challenge after Big Data
Algorithms have become instrumental in retailers' strategies to increase loyalty among customers. We don't know of any major retailer not having a Big Data team working on a.o. predicting churn, couponning, increasing loyalty, new segmentation, ... Yet, what we also…
Are smart boxes the future of car insurance?
Telematic units, also called black or smart boxes, are devices installed in a car to monitor a driver’s behavior (speed, acceleration, deceleration, …). They are increasingly used by insurance companies to develop a pay-as-you-drive pricing. Such pricing may be especially…
Big Data : 4 points to understand your legal responsibilities
I recently attended a workshop on the legal aspects of Big Data and IoT (Internet of Things) that was organized by Impulse in Brussels. The presenter, Philippe Laurent, had a very clever and clear way of presenting the problems posed…
Techstartupday 2016 : virtual reality on the rise
At the techstartup day 2016 that took place in Brussels last week, one of the buzzwords was virtual reality (VR). Juan Bossicard, Cluster manager at Impulse and President of the Microsoft Innovation Center, held a very interesting speech on the…
Real-estate prices predicted : latest news of startup Realo
Last year we reported on the scandal that followed the launch of Realo, a website predicting real-estate prices. A Belgian initiative, Realo has European ambitions and is based on a business model that has proved its efficacy in the US…
Algorithms : is our freedom threatened?
If you follow the news you may have come across this news : a deep-learning algorithm has defeated the European master of Go. This news was such a milestone in artificial intelligence (AI) that it was featured in the Nature…
Facebook case: towards more Big Data transparency ?
No later than Monday we were announcing the next Big Data revolution : algorithms will become more transparent in the future. We argued consumers will become increasingly aware of how sensitive their data is, eventually demanding information on how it…
Big Data : here’s the next revolution
This is the beginning of the next Big Data revolution. However it remained confidential. A bill was passed in France mid-January that will force the fiscal authorities to reveal the variables in algorithms used to take individual decisions (article in…
Good resolution #1: be more selective
In April 2015 I started a new Big Data assignment in Brussels. I was (and still am) spending most of my time in the eastern part of Brussels. I then realized I was working not far away from a former…
On the importance of data obsolescence
Short before Christmas I decided to send a few emails to re-connect with some of my fellow colleagues, acquaintances and clients of the past. I also used that occasion to ask those contacts one particular question for a market research…
Big Data becomes Art at MoMa
Visualizing and making sense of big data is in itself a difficult exercise. Successful attempts have been reported on this blog. Visualization can sometimes be so stunning that it can become a piece of Art. Columbia researchers Laura Kurgan, Eric…
Big Data: why couldn’t you sell your data?
This may seem like a silly idea but here it is. Wouldn’t it be better to pay users for their data rather than stealing it from them and discussing issues of data quality afterwards? (see our other articles on Big…
What is the future of radio?
The hope we were having a few years ago that younger listeners on the internet would move back to so-called linear consumption, is gone (see our latest article on radio consumption habits). We are currently in a period of transition,…
How radio consumption is changing among younger generations
I recently gave a speech on Big Data and Data Mining at the Radio Days of the EBU in Riga (Latvia) and met other fellow marketers and head of European broadcasters from all over Europe. There are two big lessons…
Facebook new patent for credit rating through social networks
Have you heard about Facebook’s new patent to evaluate your credit rating based on your social network ? Everyone refers to it but despite all my efforts I’ve been unable to find a new such patent application filled in by Facebook…
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