Buy locally, my dear Watson

Investigating the potential of an artificial intelligence that could assist midsized organisations in making smarter purchases locally.

In the pursuit to save money, some of those responsible for procurement and purchasing have hopped on the bandwagon of offshoring and taken advantage of the globalisation of suppliers, neglecting their local economies. Consumers have been making similar choices, turning away from local purchasing toward buying online. What some may deem progress, others experience as draining the life out of their local High Street.

To achieve a mix of local and global, a clearer understanding of product/service's supply chain must be available, both for consumers, and those involved in business. Imagine the day when Watson, the cognitive computer that defeated humans at the quiz show 'Jeopardy' in 2011, develops a heart. Who knows, with IBM's recently announced business unit, The Watson Group, along with its $1 billion initial investment, anything may be possible in the years ahead.

Decisions in the Age of Abundant Data

A summary of bite-sized insights and views about decision making from fresh articles around the web.

Over the last several months at Cause Analytics we have been scouting the web to bring you some helpful articles from experts in business intelligence. Today, our team will summarise several insights we have collected in our Google+ community in order to save you time and help your organisation with decision making.

You probably know of the debate between speedy decisions based on intuition versus slower decisions that draw upon evidence and rational deliberation. It's a complex debate because both sides have a role to play in various contexts, but in the 'Age of Abundant Data', business intelligence can aid you on your quest for faster results. As analytics and algorithms increasingly offer practical predictions, executives and managers will be able to act upon these predictions to communicate decisions reflexively, and perhaps, intuitively.

Internet of Things: Getting a better sense of the opportunity

The Data Strategist of Cause Analytics, David Pidsley, shared a cool article in the Anticipate Change community about how the adoption of wireless and battery-free sensor platforms in industrial settings are resulting in the “real meat and potatoes” use cases behind big data. The article from Practical Analytics focuses on the 1% efficiency gains of the "Industrial Internet" advocated by GE. Have a look at the infographic.