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How to survive and even thrive working from home

Not Just Another ‘My Working-From-Home Routine’ Blog Look at us! Living through a global pandemic. Incredible! I can say with absolute certainty that this was not, I repeat not, on my list of 2020 New Year’s resolutions! But here we are: living, surviving, and thriving (maybe). Initially, when the lockdown began, my routine was all…

The Chief Data Officer – Adapting to life in a changed world

COVID-19 has dramatically changed the world for almost every business and individual, not least for Chief Data Officers (CDOs). In the new normal world no one can be sure what lies ahead, and those data strategies and plans that looked progressive and balanced a few months ago now require a radical overhaul to meet the…

Why organisations need intelligent forecasting

According to the Oxford Global Projects Database (OGPD), which holds data on nearly 12,000 different projects, almost every complex major project is destined to cost more and be delivered later than planned. Less than one in ten megaprojects are delivered on time and on budget, and full realisation of all project outcomes is rare. The…

COVID-19 Sees Cloud Demand Soar

We are seeing huge demands in cloud computing due to the global request to stay home in this current Corona Virus crisis. With many of us now working from home, placing increasing demands on capacity and online usage, this is likely to continue long after the virus has passed its peak. Recently Barclays boss Jes…

Turning the Coronavirus threat into data driven opportunities

How should the COO and CDO use new technology to drive innovation post Covid-19 Their operations are currently running at different levels and, of course, they can’t ‘see’ everyone to assure, for example, that improvement programmes and projects are making progress.  It would be an easy option to put these initiatives on hold until better…

6 Tips to Make Sure Your Hackathon Runs Smoothly

We love a good hackathon for the purity of the data science. “Here’s the data. Have fun!” It is all the best bits of data science crammed into one session. Here at Oakland, we recently held a successful hackathon with one of our clients. They came with clear expectations, we analysed the data, provided answers…

Growing up loving green

As a woman in tech, I have heard statements such as “girls are better for teaching and social careers, and men are better for science and engineering”. The first time I heard such a statement was only a few years ago by someone who was volunteering for a charity which encourages children to go to…

Why data quality matters

Introduction – Why Data Quality matters and the Great Expectations library Over the last decade or so companies have been striving to make better use of their data. The use cases for such projects have generally fallen under two categories, improve operational efficiency or drive customer sales/behaviour. However, in order to utilise this data it…

‘Big Data,’ Analytics and Statistical Process Control (SPC)

‘Big Data,’ Analytics and Statistical Process Control (SPC) “Poor little old SPC – with ‘big data’ and advanced analytics, we don’t need it anymore.” WRONG, VERY WRONG! Improving product quality by reducing process variation has always relied on data. However, SPC whilst being a long-established and powerful tool was developed over 70 years ago in…

Are we really prepared for AI?

At the end of last year, we visited Big Data London and took the opportunity to listen to Chris Wylie – infamous for his role with Cambridge Analytica – talk about ethics in data science. He explained how unlike medicine or other professions, data science does not have a code of conduct that drives ethics…

A data scientists view of Big Data LDN 2019

Anyone who’s read The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy, or seen the film, will know the seminal quote “Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is.”. Well apparently, space has a new competitor for sheer size, and that’s data! Every year a mass of people descends on…

What’s it like to work at The Oakland Group?

Hey! My name is Kevin and I am a Data Scientist working at the Oakland Group in Leeds. Having recently joined the development team at the beginning of October, I am excited to share my experiences as a new member of the Oakland team. Three facts about me: I have a PhD in Mathematics that…