Archimedes’ Hot Tub

My interviews with people on the front lines of hiring, developing and implementing analytics programs.

Tuck Rickards, Russell Reynolds, on how to hire data driven leaders.

Michelle McKenna-Doyle, CIO of the NFL, on how the NFL uses analytics to connect with fans. (video)

Amadeus’ Denis Arnaud on how it finds data scientists.

Michael Rappa of North Carolina State’s Institute for Advanced Analytics, the nation’s first master’s program in analytics, on educating tomorrow’s analytics professionals.

It was the year of Big Data. I wrote these five posts on aspects of using analytics and data at various points in the fall for MIT Sloan Management Review.

Data Scientist in a Can?  Companies trying to close the skills gap can look to automated tools.
Analytics Meets Mother Goose. Those who work with data need to learn to tell stories about it.

Coming Soon: Doctors as Data Analyst. Kaiser Permanent’s John Mattison says fully data-driven healthcare is on the way.
Predictive Analytics Are a Traveler’s Best Friend. How Amadeus uses analytics to help customers avoid air travel headaches.

The Four Traps of Predictive Analytics. How to avoid some common mistakes of making predictive analytics.

Foreign correspondents have gotten rarer, and their work has gotten harder. Journalists working abroad must assume an even more direct level of surveillance by their host country than they have here in the U.S. Their sources face punishments including death if exposed. And there are gray areas outside of national boundaries where journalists may find themselves unprotected by laws.
Those were just some of the things that came up when I was reporting Embracing Encryption in an Age of Surveillance, part of a package on The Future of Foreign News for The Nieman Reports. The title of my piece is a bit of misnomer, since many countries ban the use of encryption software, and there are a few countries (think North Korea) where the U.S. won’t let its citizens take encryption technology. But in general, encryption is a good thing for journalists to start using.
My piece could not cover the topic deeply, so if you want more, here’s a list of useful resources:

1. Encryption Works: How to Protect Your Privacy in the Age of NSA Surveillance, from the Freedom of the Press Foundation
2. Digital Security and Source Protection for Journalists, from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism
3. Surveillance self defense, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
4. CPJ Journalist Security Guide, from the Committee to Protect Journalists

The new global journalism, also from the Tow Center. More broadly about overseas reporting, but does include ideas on source protection.

CitizenFour, the documentary about the Snowden exposure of NSA spying, is also useful.

Or, check out Snowden himself, in disguise, teaching Glenn Greenwald how to use encryption.