Data in the Bocage

Everywhere I look and nearly everything I read these days suggests that #dataanalytics (the concepts and practical applications) are everywhere – even in the “bocage”.

Admittedly, until a few weeks ago, I had absolutely no idea what the “bocage” was. I was first exposed to the word in the early chapters of a book I was reading called #TheBulletGarden by #StephenHunter. While this piece isn’t a book review, I thought it was an extremely well-done work of historical fiction.

The setting is World War II France, following the D-Day landings. The backdrop is Allied forces suffering heavy casualties in the bocage (a treacherous terrain of hedgerows) from a highly skilled enemy sniper. The action really takes hold as the book’s ultimate hero embarks on a perilous hunt to find and eliminate this formidable marksman.

Tell me already.... What’s the Link to #DataAnalytics?

Okay…. here it is…even though it took me nearly 500 pages to crystallize the tie in to markets we serve – and problems we are trying to solve – on a daily basis.

Initially, the hero of this story, an Army soldier, is brought in by the Allied Forces senior command because they have no idea how so many officers are being taken out by the enemy sniper. All they have are #disparatedata points like (1) the soldiers are being shot around the same time each day; (2) the shots are almost always hitting the soldiers in the same spot on the body; and (3) there’s a feeling that the sniper seems to know, in advance, where these soldiers are going to be and at what time.

Disparate Data in the Bocage

The #data points set forth above create a parallel in my mind to the #datasets our organizations are trying to reconcile all the time (i.e., distinct in type, source, structure, or format). As we all know, the challenge in dealing with disparate data lies in effectively #integrating and #analyzing these varied data types to extract meaningful #insights, requiring advanced #dataprocessing and #analyticstechniques.

I don’t want to give the ending away, but our hero figures it out through what today would be considered a very rudimentary, manual analysis of reams of data that took too much time to procure (and too many lives lost in the interim). He meticulously analyzes various facts and circumstances surrounding the sniper attacks, integrating disparate pieces of evidence to #solve the #problem. In so doing, he forms a coherent #thesis from this previously, #fragmentedinformation and subsequently derives the most meaningful #insight of all…

The Potential for Heroism Through Data Analytics

While the book I’ve referenced is a work of historical fiction, there are no shortage of real-life problems that are in the process of being solved through #advancedanalytics. Problems, once solved, that will truly improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world. Take for example, #personalizeddrugdevelopment; the newfound treatments for the obesity epidemic; and the breakneck speed for which vaccines were developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Salute to Service

In this month during which we celebrate our Nation’s veterans in the United States, I also offer a tip of the cap to all you working to find solutions by using #dataforgood for the various problems your teams are trying to solve. Just as our hero in #TheBulletGarden #analyzes and #integrates information to strategically locate and neutralize a formidable sniper, data analytics enables #problemsolvers to dissect complex global challenges and uncover #patterns and #insights that lead to #innovativesolutions.

Keep up the good and important work!

If you’re looking to benchmark against #dataheroes, check out a series of #events being planned by the “IntelligentEnterpriseLeadersAlliance. Currently, we are organizing events in the areas of #PeopleAnalytics #CustomerAnalytics #HealthcareAnalytics and #AI.

If you are looking to share your #datastorytelling please feel free to contact me at [email protected].