CIO.com and Drexel to honor 50 analytics innovators (deadline extended)

Gone are the days when business decisions were made based on gut instinct and qualitative information. It’s now the Age of Analytics — data is big, real-time and actionable. IDC forecasts the big data technology and services market will reach $41.5 billion worldwide in 2018. The predicted 26.4 percent compound annual growth rate would be about six times the predicted growth of the overall IT market. The research firm also estimates spending on business analytics will reach $89.6 billion in 2018.

The budgets are big, but who’s leading the charge in terms of innovation? To find out, CIO.com is teaming up with Drexel University to recognize 50 executives who effectively use analytics to overcome business challenges.

The goal of the collaboration is to share best practices while also recognizing innovation in analytics. And Drexel is a perfect partner. Its LeBow College of Business offers both graduate and undergraduate degrees in analytics, including an MS in Business Analytics, an MBA with a Business Analytics concentration and a BS in Business Analytics (a degree in which students co-major in analytics and one other discipline, such as finance, operations management, MIS, or marketing). Students in Drexel’s analytics programs have the opportunity to learn concepts and apply them to real-world challenges provided by leading companies, according to the university.

“The Analytics 50 is a great way to acknowledge leaders who are bridging theory and practice and to learn how they’re making things happen using analytics within their organizations,” says Murugan Anandarajan, PhD, Drexel’s department head of decision sciences and MIS. “With more and more organizations making analytics a priority, we knew that a collaboration with CIO.com would be an exciting way to share novel solutions with those in the industry.”

Nominate your analytics project

Together, we’ll list the top 50 analytics executives and their companies here on CIO.com, and the winners will be recognized at an Analytics 50 event on November 9, 2016, at Drexel University’s Philadelphia campus.

Applications must be received by July 15, 2016. Judging criteria will include complexity of challenges, project innovation, impact on the organization, and the metrics used to evaluate that impact.

You can find additional information about the Analytics 50, and nominate your project for consideration here.