New York SBDC Research Network

By Krista Garcia From eMarketer According to a new study by Snowflake Computing and Harvard Business Review, companies that make data-driven decisions have the best chance for longevity. Yet across industries, they found that only 5% of retail and CPG enterprises qualify as data-driven, half of the survey average (10%). This stands in opposition to stated goals. The retail industry had the highest number (89%) that placed great importance on getting better insights into customer needs and expectations. Faster decision-making was also a priority (79%) as well as improving process and cost efficiency (68%). What is holding retailers back? The biggest challenge cited was human in nature; 44% said they lacked the digital and data analytic skills to transform. More than one-third cited internal resistance to change while 29% blamed legacy processes.

Obtained From: Marketing Profs What does it mean to be an empowered marketer? Let's start with the definition of empowerment. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us it is "The process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights." So what does the word mean when applied to B2C marketers? Marketers today have a million demands on their time. During a typical day, you might send out a few personalized emails, run A/B tests to drive conversions on your e-commerce website, publish some beautiful targeted ads on Instagram, and then analyze the ROI across all your marketing campaigns. And that's just in one day! It's no wonder B2C marketers are feeling the pressure to continually perform. Sound fantastic? It is.That is exactly why marketers need to become empowered—so they can access customer data directly, easily execute complex marketing campaigns, and dive into detailed analytics to prove the value ...

From Marketing Profs : What does it mean to be human (and a marketer) in a world where even the most creative and intuitive endeavors are being turned into automated, optimized, and streamlined processes? With the onslaught of stories about the launch of new, fantastic pieces of software or technological advancements that'll make life simpler and computers able to make essential data connections, it seems that we're quickly entering a full-blown "Artificial Intelligence Age." At the root of AI are perception and cognition, which also happen to be two of the fundamental tenets of the marketing industry. It's no surprise, then, that software, algorithms, and AI applications are consistently used to help marketers and make their job of "adaptive persuasion" more effective and efficient. Far from being a substitute for the creative process, though, data is empowerment. By offering deeper and more comprehensive consumer insights, data fuels curiosity ...

From Verizon : Every year, the Verizon RISK (Research, Investigations, Knowledge, Solutions) Team investigates hundreds of cybercrimes and helps organizations recover fast. In the Data Breach Digest, we share some of our most interesting cases—anonymized of course—so you can learn from the lessons of others. Our 16 cybercrime case studies cover the most lethal and prevalent threats you face—from partner misuse to sophisticated malware. We set out the measures you can take to better defend your organization and respond quickly if you are a victim of an attack. A cyber attack isn’t just a problem for IT. The fallout can affect every part of your organization—from Legal Counsel to Human Resources and Corporate Communications. To reflect that, each of the cybercrime case studies is written from the viewpoint of a different stakeholder. That will help you understand the critical pivot points in an investigation and the kind of decisions you might be faced with if you’re a data breach...

From the IRS : In an unprecedented partnership, the IRS, the states and the tax industry are working together to protect your federal and state tax accounts from identity thieves. We are asking you - taxpayers, tax preparers and businesses - to join with us to create an even stronger partnership in the face of this constantly evolving enemy. Our "Taxes. Security. Together" awareness campaign is an effort to better inform you about the need to protect your personal, tax and financial data online and at home. People continue to fall prey to clever cybercriminals who trick them into giving up Social Security numbers, account numbers or password information. In turn, criminals use this information a variety of ways, including filing fraudulent tax returns. As part of the "Taxes. Security. Together" effort, we launched a Protect your Clients; Protect Yourself campaign to raise awareness among tax professionals that they increasingly are targets of cybercriminals an...

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) launched an internet-based data service for the global user community. It brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can now search and download a variety of statistical resources of the UN system. Users are often unaware of the full array of statistical information that the UN system has in its data libraries. UNdata addresses pools major UN databases and those of several international into one single internet environment. The innovative design allows a user to access a large number of UN databases either by browsing the data series or through a keyword search. Useful features like Country Profiles, Advanced Search and Glossaries are also provided to aid research. The numerous databases, tables and glossaries containing over 60 million data points cover a wide range of themes including Agriculture, Crime, Education, Employment, ...

New Census Web Tool Helps Business Owners Make Data Driven Decisions  The U.S. Census Bureau released  Census Business Builder: Small Business Edition , a new Web tool that allows business owners and entrepreneurs to easily navigate and use key demographic and economic data to help guide their research into opening a new business or adding to an existing one. The Census Business Builder was developed with user-centered design at its core and incorporated feedback from customers and stakeholders, including small business owners, trade associations and other government agencies. The tool combines data from the American Community Survey, the economic census, County Business Patterns and other economic surveys to provide a complete business profile of an area. Business statistics include the number of establishments, employment, payroll and sales. American Community Survey statistics include population characteristics, economic characteristics and housing charac...

Sorry, folks, I don’t have any cake to share for this celebration, but don’t let that stop you from participating in Data Privacy Day. There are practical things you can do today, and every day, to protect your personal information. Here are a few scenarios where people may share more information than they intend. Scenario 1: At the coffee shop, you decide to use an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot to check your bank balance with an app. More from the Federal Trade Commission .

Big Data Benefits U.S. Businesses The   U.S. Cluster Mapping Project  is a  landmark joint partnership  between the Harvard Business School and the US government, created to give businesses access to new tools to compete in an increasingly competitive global economy.  How does it work?  In short, the project uses over 50 million open data records to identify “clusters” of related industries that can be hubs of innovation, jobs and private investment. How does it benefit businesses and communities? The cluster mapping tool helps "promote America's clusters and provide businesses and organizations with the data and strategies they need to capitalize on their region's assets," says U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. Read more  on why regional economies are the “building blocks of U.S. competitiveness” or check out  a list of current industry clusters and their corresponding dashboards.

Most consumers already know the websites they visit collect their data, so when they get personalized offers and content, they're not surprised. Consumers also are increasingly aware of the distinction between first-party and third-party data and that some companies collect third-party data and resell profiles of personal information to willing buyers. Third-party data aggregation is under attack, which presents an opportunity and incentive for digital marketers to favor first-party data to build a more strategic and personalized marketing strategy. The more you know about the way your customers engage with your digital properties, the better you can align what you're selling with what customers are interested in. Though third-party data can be useful in the marketing process, a skilled and nuanced first-party data strategy is a more reliable and respectful way to deliver offers with a higher likelihood of engagement and conversion. Read more at Marketing Profs

Small businesses are significant job creators, particularly in distressed inner city neighborhoods. And yet, information on businesses, especially in inner cities is often incomplete. ICIC’s recent study of the accuracy of business data in Boston discovered startling inconsistencies between public and commercial databases: • 43% of businesses in a leading commercial database were not found in public city and state databases. • A walking inventory of commercial districts in inner city Boston revealed that 30% of businesses in the commercial database did not exist, and new businesses were identified that were not included in the database. Insufficient small business data creates barriers for cities to connect their small businesses with support resources. It also hinders the efficacy of private sector "buy-local" efforts. To address this issue, ICIC developed a roadmap to help cities identify business information gaps and collect more comprehensive data on local busines...

The Data Analysis team within the Office of Trade and Economic Analysis (OTEA), as part of the International Trade Administration, seeks to provide a solid foundation of trade and industry data to support the development of national trade policies. The Office of Trade and Economic Analysis provides industry and policy decision makers with information on the impacts of economic and regulatory policies on U.S. manufacturing and services industries, as well as provides a solid foundation of trade and industry data to support the development of national trade policies. OTEA performs in-depth industry analysis on the effects of both domestic and foreign policy developments on U.S. business competitiveness. Our core projects are benchmarking the environment facing U.S. industry, analyzing regulatory reform outcomes, issuing antitrust exemption certificates for export trading company mergers, and assessing foreign investments in the United States. OTEA publishes research papers that an...

Gizmodo, the design and technology blog for Gawker Media, presents a rundown of the best infographics and data visualizations of 2013 . Not all are based primarily on public data, but showcase the strengths of the medium just the same. Want more? Check out Cool Hunting’s Information is Beautiful Award Winners for 2013 .

Research Recap is a good source of data about equity, credit, market, and economic research.

Terri Ann Lowenthal’s excellent Census Project Blog has a great post about the bill and its implications : Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3) [has] just introduced a bill (H.R. 1638) to cancel the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), Economic Census, Census of Governments and every other survey the agency conducts, except the once-a-decade population count. Oh, and bye-bye Census of Agriculture (transferred from Census to the Agriculture Department in 1997). Sayonara, adios — no more data.

From SmartData Collective With over 30 years in retail site location strategy, I used Census data every day to analyze business critical issues. Where do our customers live? How has that changed in the past decade, and what’s likely to happen in the next 10 years? What is the projected return on this investment? How skilled is the labor force? Can we predict sales behavior? How do customer demographics align with shopping preferences? How does community economic vitality impact company growth? Shopping centers, hospitals, housing developments, and infrastructure are built for the long-term and require careful location analysis and insights. Our Economy Runs on Fact-Based Decisions Businesses match goods and services to consumer demand. Being in the right place at the right time with the right product is critical to business success. It’s not about luck... Why is This Issue Important? This is very important now because the public data that business uses for analytics and ...

How are you backing up your small business data? If you are like most small businesses, you could be compromising your business and its data on a daily basis. A 2011 survey by Carbonite, a provider of online backup solutions, found some facts about data loss that may surprise you: Forty-eight percent of American small businesses with between two and twenty employees have experienced data loss, up from 42 percent in 2010. Top causes of data loss include hardware/software failure (54 percent), accidental deletion (54 percent), viruses (33 percent) and theft (10 percent). Thirty-one percent of business owners surveyed think backing up company data is a hassle. Scary, huh? If you’ve ever lost a laptop, or been left stranded by malware or some other problem, then you already know the detrimental effect it can have on your business. For many, it can mean disaster. More HERE .