Over the last few years, data analysis has become increasingly important for growing businesses, allowing them to better understand their customers, patterns in behaviour, and the impact of marketing strategies. By using this information, enterprises have been able to improve their tactics, shaping them around the results of the analysis for better chance of success in the future.
So valuable is this data analysis that the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has even announced artificial intelligence will be used alongside machine learning to speed up experimental data analysis produced at its national multidisciplinary science facilities. This is in the hopes it can help make scientific breakthroughs at a faster rate.
It will work with the Alan Turing Institute on the project, having recently received £40 million from UK Research and Innovation. This finance is focused on advancing AI technology in the engineering, health, science and criminal justice industries.
Chief data scientist at STFC Tony Hey said: “There are many areas of science that now generate such large volumes of data that processing it is laborious and inefficient.”
Instead, Mr Hey, who will co-direct the project, said AI will “assist scientists [to] create new scientific knowledge more quickly and efficiently”.
By doing so, it will help Britain “maintain its position at the forefront of the global research community”. Without these AI and machine learning tools, however, the UK could fall behind on its scientific analysis.
AI technology will first be used at the Harwell Campus – Diamond, ISIS neutron and muon source, the UK’s Central Laser Facility, and the NERC Centre for Environmental Data Analysis with its JASMIN super data cluster. This will be known as the ‘Turing Hub’ and will be funded by the Alan Turing Institute, which will also pay for four data scientists and the AI computer system.
The Hub, being hosted at the STFC’s Scientific Computing Department, will allow those using the facilities to take advantage of the AI expertise available to analyse data.
In addition to this, the new technology could be used at the STFC Hartree Centre in the future, as it is working closely with the Alan Turing Institute on AI machinery for the science industry.
Employing business intelligence for your UK enterprise is extremely valuable in helping the company grow. By gathering data from your entire firm into one centralised system, it is much easier to see patterns and interpret the results clearly. What’s more, you can spot trends, analyse performance, and recognise seasonal, financial, or cultural impacts on your business results.
Business intelligence also helps by providing interactive, and easy-to-understand graphics. Not only can you pull across complicated information from several departments into one tidy chart, graph or infographic, but you can easily communicate the facts to employees as they are visually appealing, and therefore, simpler to understand. Live statistics also help businesses make timely decisions, based on current figures and trends, and not just historic ones. Even without complex AI, using digital data analysis tools will help all British firms understand, interpret, and utilise their results to their advantage.
