How do we reinvent business models in a way that balances the need for commercial success with the need to tackle climate change? Can data science and AI reconcile business and sustainability goals while driving competitive advantage? Why is it so hard to make this change when the need for it is so obvious?
The LSE Data Science Institute (DSI) hosted an exclusive event in collaboration with Ekimetrics as part of the EkiVision 2022 global launch that tackled these questions and more. The event fostered discussion and debate amongst the LSE students and alums in attendance who actively engaged with the discussions led by experts from academia and industry.
By presenting students with an interactive programme of interviews, roundtables and skills sessions, this event provided a comprehensive introduction to the key themes and future challenges. This was echoed by MSc student Fiorella Angeles who reflected, "I liked the event because it included practical experience of how leaders of companies develop their strategies to build sustainable business. The other part of the presentation enrichs with knowledge about how the data science process could play an important role in the society."
This latter part of the session, including skills sessions, was particularly popular with students who were drawn from a range of LSE Departments, from Government to Geography and Environment, and from Statistics to Sociology. This broad appeal demonstrates not only that students recognise the importance of the challenges presented and that a multi-disciplinary approach is required to tackle them, but also the progress that the DSI has made in embedding data science across LSE teaching and research.
The skills sessions were delivered by PhD Candidate in Social Research Methods Wendy Wang and MSc Applied Social Data Science alum Anton Boychenko. The sessions were also tailored to be accessible for different audiences to ensure that those of different backgrounds were all given the chance to get to grips with key data science concepts.
Following an introduction from DSI Director Professor Ken Benoit and Caroline Milliotte, Global Head of Sustainability at Ekimetrics, a range of experts from industry and academia shared their thoughts with students via pre-recorded conversations. This included Nobel Prize winner and best-selling author, Daniel Kahneman, in conversation with Ekimetrics’ CEO, Jean-Baptiste Bouzige, as well as debates featuring L’Oréal’s Global Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Asmita Dubey, Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou of Carnegie Mellon’s Tapper Business School, Nicolas Miailhe, Founder of The Future Society and Phillipe Rambach, Chief AI Officer at Schneider Electric.
These interviews and debates examined how to remove the obstacles to successful data transformation, the psychology and inertia of change and how to implement AI to accelerate it. These themes were echoed by Caroline Milliotte, Global Head of Sustainability at Ekimetrics who said, “Using data science and AI to interrogate everything from supply chain to product development and marketing, businesses can understand where best to focus their efforts. This will ensure that they move beyond paying lip service, to actions grounded in real world impact which also deliver the business performance shareholders demand.
“We’re thrilled to be working with LSE’s Data Science Institute to bridge this gap and shape sustainability-focused business and data science leaders of the future.”
DSI Director Professor Ken Benoit added, “Sustainability is a key aspect across a diverse array of research topics. Working with businesses such as Ekimetrics means we can help shift the dial in the here and now of the real world, both through research and by equipping people with the skills and quality of thinking necessary to make significant change. It’s imperative that we do.”
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About Ekimetrics
Ekimetrics is a leader in data science and AI-powered solutions. For over 16 years, we’ve pioneered the use of AI and advanced data science applied to unified marketing measurement, holistic business optimization and broad-ranging sustainability goals.
Our goal: to combine high impact with long-term business purpose.
Ekimetrics is one of the world’s largest independent analytics firms with offices on 3 continents, and with more than 400 data experts. Since 2006, we have led more than a thousand data science projects in over 50 countries, generating more than €1bn in profit for our customers.
You can connect with Ekimetrics on Twitter and LinkedIn.