Editor’s Note – Hugh Miller

We are now well into another year of Actuaries Digital! With a new website and a continued push into new forms of content, like videos and podcasts, 2019 is off to a strong start.

As Editor for data analytics, I’m looking forward to seeing lots of pieces – probably more than any other area. This reflects a strong growth among members both in interest and actively working in the space.

One of the challenges of data analytics is grappling with the breadth of the topic. You’ll see this reflected in the range of articles that we tend to publish:

• Technical ‘how-to’ articles, such as Jacky Poon’s excellent snippets article demonstrating deep learning code.
• More general descriptions of trends and approaches, such as Milton Lim’s discussions on AI advancement.
• Industry-specific commentary, such as my effort on how analytics is transforming government service delivery
• Event coverage, such as the coverage of the annual data analytics seminar. Or Zeming Yu’s coverage of relevant MeetUps.
• Podcasts, such as Anthony Tockar’s interview with Tiberio Caetano on the makings of a good data scientist.
• Updates on what’s happening at the Institute, such as the Data Analytics Working Group Practice Update.
• My semi-regular column on analytics, Normal Deviance.

You can expect more of the same this year, drawing from the expertise of our member base and beyond.

We can’t do everything in this publication, so part of our job is to also make sure that we’re keeping track of developments elsewhere and providing you with useful links.

Personally, I’m excited about the flow of podcasts this year; there are lots of great data science podcasts out there, which I’ve been digging of late. And I think the Actuaries Digital channel will have a great range of people being interviewed in 2019 that should be interesting, informative, and useful for career development.

Data sharing and privacy will also be a big player this year. Open banking, where customers can make their banks must share personal data with other providers on request, is due to begin in July this year. The government is considering related legislation around the Consumer Data Right (CDR), which will have broader implications too. Meanwhile, we will continue to see the impact of 2018 reforms such as mandatary reporting of Notifiable Data Breaches and the EU GDPR rules.

If that all sounds good, then you can continue to look forward to an exciting 2019. If not, we’re always keen on feedback on specific topics or ideas that would be relevant for you. Get in touch by emailing actuariesmag@actuaries.asn.au.

CPD: Actuaries Institute Members can claim two CPD points for every hour of reading articles on Actuaries Digital.