RSS Manchester Local Group

December 3rd 2003 at MMU,
Tea in E30 @ 4.30pm, talk in E34 @ 5.00pm

Statistical resources for Business and Industry

John Logsdon, Quantex Research Ltd, Manchester


Business and industrial applications have long been statistical Cinderellas.  Fragmented industry, sparse perceived demand, disinterested supply and a tendency to use some packaged approach has meant that advanced statistical techniques are late at the Ball.

Why should this be so?  In this industry-centred talk, we first compare the standard approaches used by industry and the industrial sectors of various countries.  We see how difficult it can be for industry to use approaches that we, as statisticians, believe would be of immense use.

But statisticians are, above all things, problem solvers.  We have a problem in our own back yard - how should we solve this?

We consider the ASA experience, discuss the RSS probes into business and industry and the more recent European movement around ENBIS.

We then turn to an internet-based approach that has, as one of it's aims, the promotion of advanced statisical techniques by providing the tools that freelance - and other - statisticians really need within a business-orientated context.