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Every once in a while, it pays off to take a few steps back to appreciate the value that robust data analysis can bring to nearly every aspect of daily life. We tend to focus on business outcomes and product development, and for good reasons, but the world stretches far beyond the common workflows of data scientists, and exploring the richness of the field can benefit practitioners regardless of the projects they’re currently working on.
To celebrate the diverse use cases for data-focused approaches and to encourage our readers to expand both their skill set and their imagination, we’re thrilled to share a lineup of excellent articles that take us on unexpected journeys with data—from score patterns in athletic competitions to the optimized table assignments at weddings. Enjoy your reading!
- Data Science at Home: Solving the Nanny Schedule Puzzle with Monte Carlo and Genetic Algorithms
“The thought of work meetings, nap times, and unpredictable shifts have our minds running in circles — until I realized I could use the same algorithms that solve business problems to solve a very personal one.” Courtney Perigo walks us through the meticulous problem-solving process she’s created to address the thorny challenge of scheduling childcare at the times it’s needed the most. - Uneven Scoring in Multi-Event Athletics
With the Paris Olympics still fresh in our memories, now’s as good a time as any to dive into the many areas where data science and sports intersect. David Mulholland chose a topic—the intricate scoring systems in the decathlon and heptathlon—that may appear niche at first, and unpacked its stakes with great nuance, showing how smart data analysis can reveal otherwise hard-to-detect patterns and insights.