Member Article

Analytics in 2019 – what can we expect?

*By Oletta Stewart, MHR Analytics *

With 2019 fast approaching, it’s time to look at what the year might bring for analytics. One thing that’s for certain is that 2019 will bring deliver new advancements within the analytics space, particularly around solving complex business challenges. The ‘Digital Mesh’ is a theme that will merge the set boundaries between machine and man and digital and reality.

There are five key trends that we expect to see merge from data analytics in the next year.

Augmented analytics

The first trend we expect to see is one of the biggest analytics’ trends to watch out for, according to Gartner.

Augmented analytics is a technology which enables Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence to work together to automate the process of finding and prepping data to generate insights.

Natural-language generation is also set to emerge within augmented analytics and will help to humanise data, helping users understand insights by comparing it to real-life context. This is a technology that is set to have a clear presence in large organisations in 2019 – with an estimate that 40% of large businesses will have adopted it by the end of next year.

This type of technology will help create what Gartner calls “citizen data scientists” whereby a normal business user will be able to analyse their data directly, removing the need for a separate data expert. Some even go as far as predicting that this will eradicate the need for data scientists all together, but it is likely to just leverage their expertise.

Internal data experts

An internal data expert is a role we’re set to see emerge as technology advances. Self-service analytics’ technologies will enable businesses to unlock new data insights.

With a greater uptake of analytics, data experts will be in higher demand than ever before. To ensure organisations utilise their analytics, they will need internal data scientists to combine the results and analyse it correctly. However, their role across business is predicted to change.

The data scientist role will change as the technology improves around them. We will soon see the role focussing fully on solving specialised issues and embedding models in enterprise applications and working with technologies like augmented analytics to improve their results. We will also see the role move away from number-crunching and progress towards a strategic council role, to help organisations make more informed decisions.

The new buzzword – ’Digital Twin’

We’re predicting there will be a new buzzword on the analytics scene in 2019 – the ‘Digital Twin’.

Digital twin is essentially a digital representation of a real-word object but it’s more than an inanimate item. It is defined as an understanding of the dynamics that create a real-world thing. They can be created for people, processes and things.

A good example of a digital twin is in the healthcare industry. Patients’ medical data can be used to create a bio-physical model which acts as a virtual version of the patient’s body. The patient’s medical data can then be compared with similar patient data to find the best treatment available.

Visualising Data

Data visualisation is set to become the “new language” in 2019 as organisations communicate their insights. This technology is allowing people from all areas of the business understand and interact with the data insights the organisation is generating.

By humanising the data available, the user can identify patterns and trends to have a full understanding of what’s going on behind the business.

In 2019, data storytelling is predicted to become a prominent theme which will show insights in an organisation unfold to tell a story with a clear narrative.

Overall, as data visualisation becomes embedded in organisations, data-driven conversations will become part of the normal business strategy. Due to this, we can expect to see a greater collaboration between departments and sharing of insights to fuel the business needs.

Data Maturity

Finally, data maturity defines the extent as to which an organisation understands and utilises the data insights they produce. The more use gained, the more data mature an organisation is.

A business wanting to advance in their data maturity journey is a relatively new concept, but it is certainly something that will become more prominent in 2019.

Right now, organisations are producing a vast amount of data, but many just use this to report about what has already happened, and not using it to make future decisions. To remain competitive, businesses must utilise the data they produce to the maximum.

We may see some organisations starting their journey towards implementing prescriptive analytics throughout 2019 which will allow them to step away from inputting manual variables into a system to predict future outcomes and instead harness the power of machine learning and AI to solve potential issues before they exist.

The increased awareness of the data maturity journey will help businesses to see data for what it is – a corporate asset which, if utilised, will become a key component of the business strategy.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nick Till .