John Sullivan starts each workday logging on to his company’s Tableau account.
With a few clicks in the data-visualization program, Sullivan, who serves as BankNewport’s executive vice president for digital and technology strategy, is presented with a dizzying array of charts and tables.
The information can be manipulated to show the smallest details, such as what percentage of activity through the bank’s newly launched real-time payments platform comes from Grubhub, PayPal or Venmo.
Or it can reveal long-term trends. One graph shows the number and dollar value of mobile deposits since 2017, lines fluctuating up and down before soaring in March, when the pandemic hit.
These graphs are the product of an underlying, complex set of codes and algorithms designed to collect, sort and display data – automating what would otherwise be a painstaking process of uncovering never-before-seen insights from seemingly senseless reams of numbers. Across many industries, companies are increasingly recognizing the value of the crucial information that can be gleaned from their data.
It’s not just an advantage but a necessity for survival, and it’s become more important during the pandemic.
“If you want to remain competitive, you have to embrace data analytics in some semblance,” Sullivan said. “If we leverage data appropriately, it should make life easier on the customer … and open opportunities for us as a company.”
The finance industry was among the earliest adopters of data analytics, as customers shifted to mobile and online banking services – a transition accelerated by the coronavirus, which has spurred a 30% increase in digital banking, according to a July survey by Citizens Financial Group Inc.
The more people rely on digital, the more data they generate, which in turn means more opportunities to use those data points to automate a personalized approach, said Beth Johnson, chief experience officer for Citizens.
Johnson’s role, which was created in January, focuses on integrating the bank’s robust data analytics team and tools into services for customers – such as cash-flow analytics for businesses and personalized text messages alerting retail customers to potential fraud activity.
Johnson stressed that the way companies share the information culled from analyzing the data is just as important as the messages being delivered.
“It’s not just analytics, it’s how do you deliver that message [to the customer], how do you embed in the experiences, both digital and physical,” Johnson said.
Citizens’ revamped mobile application, originally set to roll out this past summer but delayed because of the pandemic, builds on this philosophy, integrating analytics to offer personalized financial advice to users on how to better manage their budget or notifying them if their expenses in a certain category are more than usual.
The bank’s use of data analytics has proven crucial to its internal operations and customer services during COVID-19, Johnson said.
“It’s really what is separating winners and losers out,” she said.
It’s also giving smaller companies such as BankNewport a fighting chance against the national banks, Sullivan said.
Margaret Hartigan, CEO and founder of fintech firm Marstone Inc., agreed. Advancements in fintech have made her company’s digital and artificial-intelligence-powered wealth-management platform economical even for small community banks and credit unions, particularly as the migration to digital has increased during the pandemic.
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IN-HOUSE TRAINING: Alan H. Litwin, left, is the managing director and Henry Silva is the chief operations officer at Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd. in Providence. The accounting firm holds an array of data analytics courses as part of ongoing education requirements for employees. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY[/caption]
NEW DIRECTIONS
Government is getting in on the act, too.
Scott R. Jensen, director of the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, sees the department’s use of data analytics – part of a $1 million pilot project with the nonprofit group Research for Improving People’s Lives – as the key differentiator in Rhode Island’s ability to efficiently process a wave of unemployment claims when COVID-19 hit.
The program, which launched in 2019, allowed DLT to transfer decades of wage data previously stored on largely inaccessible, 1980s IBM computers to a cloud-computing “data lake” – which essentially increased storage and processing power through the internet. That additional power was vital in handling the 50-fold increase in jobless claims.
A new tool – the same used by Amazon.com Inc. to manage high-volume Black Friday sales – automated what would have taken a worker to process.
While other states faced frequent crashes, Rhode Island’s system never faltered, according to Jensen.
Newly accessible data also helped shape the department’s strategy, particularly when DLT’s call center was “crushed” with calls, Jensen said.
Computer analysis showed that many failed calls unable to connect during the heavily trafficked time were coming from the same people dialing over and over again.
“We had about 8,000 calls coming from 1,000 people,” Jensen said.
Jensen redirected workers from other departments to the call center to reduce the number of failed calls. While workers were initially skeptical that they could ever wade through seemingly thousands of inquiries, it quickly became apparent that the strategy was working, as wait times and calls declined.
“We never had that kind of data before,” Jensen said. “If you don’t know what’s happening, it’s hard to make a strategy to deal with it.”
DISTRUST FADING?
Many companies also have a newfound appreciation for data analytics as a way of making sense of a world upended by COVID-19.
Among them is Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island. In 2019, the company hired its first chief data and analytics officer, Amar Gurivireddygari. The job has become crucial during the coronavirus crisis.
Gurivireddygari has led the transition of the insurer’s physical assets and information into cloud-computing software. The two-year project is expected to finish by the end of 2022.
The transition comes in conjunction with a new electronic medical records platform that will allow medical providers at the insurance company’s partner health care systems to submit information from patient visits, testing and diagnoses to Blue Cross immediately, rather than in the weekslong turnaround time required for a claim to be processed.
Improving the speed with which Blue Cross can access patient data is crucial to its personalized care plan, Gurivireddygari said. For example, if a patient tests positive for stage-four cancer, immediate knowledge of that result allows the insurer to begin offering educational information, medications and provider referrals much sooner.
Collecting and storing patient data electronically also allows for analysis that can improve Blue Cross’ bottom line.
The insurer’s model is predicated on the potential risks and costs its members will incur. Traditional models segment members into risk categories based on age and preexisting conditions. But advanced algorithms that accommodate more-nuanced situations – a pregnant woman, for example, whose medical needs may be higher during pregnancy but are less after childbirth – mean more-accurate cost projections.
With patients now turning to virtual appointments with doctors whom they may never have seen in person, AI can also “revolutionize” the system, eliminating the need for tedious conversations about medical history and social conditions, Gurivireddygari said. Instead, that information can be shared in a button click.
The technology also hinges on a patient’s willingness to share information electronically. Prior to COVID-19, this was a stumbling block for those either unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the potential privacy breaches they feared would come from a digital-first approach, Gurivireddygari said. But the COVID-19 fears have eased some of that hesitancy and suspicion, prompting what he hoped would be a long-term cultural shift toward online information sharing.
A trained data science team is also crucial to creating and enforcing best practices in information sharing that protect privacy and security, Gurivireddygari said.
Still, continued revelations about the personal data collected and shared by corporate giants such as Facebook and Amazon – often unbeknownst to their users – has some companies worried about diving into data analytics.
A June 2020 study by software company Sinequa found that data privacy and security were among the top reasons why organizations were hesitant to more fully embrace data analytics, named by 24% and 20%, respectively, of companies surveyed.
Distrust of data analytics was among the initial reactions to Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence-Metrology Software Inc.’s new AI-based application, according to Steven Ilmrud, vice president of operations for the global manufacturer and software developer, which has offices in North Kingstown.
Ironically, the distrust was felt among some of Hexagon’s own employees.
Automation and data analytics have long been a crucial part of the services Hexagon offers to other manufacturers, but it was only in the last year that the company turned its analytics expertise internally to develop its own manufacturing execution system.
Known as Smart Factory Manager, the automated system collects and tracks all aspects of the company’s assembly, production and sales for the measuring products it manufactures.
“Initially, there was some belief [among employees] that the old way was better,” Ilmrud said. “But we quickly found that the system was providing us with input or direction that, while contrary to what we could have done, was really improving our efficiency and accuracy.”
Rather than work on one machine at a time, and halt production if a part got damaged, for example, the system suggested assembling multiple machines at once to improve productivity even if problems arose with one. Collecting data throughout the process enabled workers to identify potential inaccuracies in time for them to be remedied, rather than waiting until the machines were fully assembled.
“To wait until the end of the process and inspect if it’s good or bad is simply too late,” Ilmrud said.
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BY THE NUMBERS: Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence-Metrology Software Inc. Vice President of Operations Steven Ilmrud, right, says a new automated system has helped the North Kingstown company improve efficiency and accuracy. Ilmrud is pictured with Production Manager Ted Coppa. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM[/caption]
PEOPLE STILL NEEDED
While companies are increasingly recognizing and embracing the world of data analytics, challenges remain. Perhaps the most significant is finding – and paying – the people with the skills and expertise to make a data-driven mission reality.
Across the country, data-science job postings have increased 256% since 2013, and 31% since 2018, according to analysis by Indeed.com’s Hiring Lab. Yet data scientists comprised just 0.03% of the state’s 480,000-person workforce in 2019, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics data.
Local colleges have started data science and analytics programs to meet the need in Rhode Island and beyond. The University of Rhode Island, which debuted a bachelor’s degree in data science in 2018, has seen interest among students grow from 12 students in its first semester to upward of 50 as of the fall of 2020, according to Joan Peckham, the former coordinator of URI’s Big Data Collaborative and Data Science programs. A master’s degree program and a certification program are in the works as well, Peckham said.
URI’s interdisciplinary model centers on computer programming, math and statistics, with a long list of prerequisites before students can formally enter the bachelor’s program.
But with educational programs in their infancy, companies are finding data scientists hard to come by, even if they look beyond state borders.
“We’re all chasing the same sprinters,” said Gurivireddygari.
Just as important as formally trained data scientists are the people in business, marketing and programming who can combine expertise with the understanding of data analytics. Many companies have looked to beef up training among existing employees.
Through its Division of Workforce Partnership, the Community College of Rhode Island has helped train roughly 300 employees at companies ranging from AAA Northeast, Amgen Inc. and Bank of America Corp. since launching its data analytics training program a year ago, according to Amy Kempe, CCRI spokeswoman.
Other companies offer their own training, such as Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd., which holds an array of data analytics courses as part of ongoing education requirements for employees.
“We think the best way for people to learn is on the job,” said Alan H. Litwin, managing director for KLR. “If we do the training in-house, we can make the application of procedures consistent with how we work.”
The cost of training, technologies and new hires is quickly becoming a major expense for many companies. But it’s an investment worth the price tag, according to Pentti Tofte, head of analytics for Johnston-based insurer FM Global.
Like others, the pandemic has driven the stakes for the commercial property insurance company’s use of data analytics through the roof. After employees were restricted from conducting the typical in-person surveys of clients’ offices and properties, the company developed a mobile application that let clients record and share the information collected virtually.
Whether this virtual data collection model will continue post-pandemic, Tofte was unsure. But the automation and analysis used to develop it will remain crucial, he said.
“The owners of the future are going to be the people with a data-driven culture and a data-driven approach to making decisions,” he said. “AI and data analytics are here to stay.”
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
