Forecasting Impact

Our next guest is Feng Li, Associate Professor of Statistics in the School of Statistics and Mathematics at Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, China.  
 
In this episode, he describes the current status of forecasting science and practice in China, his research focus, and his lab KLLAB, where he and his wife Dr Yanfei Kang are focused on computing, forecasting and learning with massive machines. We also discussed in depth one of his papers entitled "Time series forecasting with imaging". 

Our next guest is Professor Nada Sanders, Distinguished Professor in Supply Chain Management at Northeastern University, US. She has written several books (e.g., “Big Data Driven Supply Chain Management” (Pearson), “Foundations of Sustainable Business”, “Forecasting Fundamentals”), her latest publication is “The Humachine: Humankind, Machines, and the Future of Enterprise”.

In this episode, Nada emphasizes the important role of humans in decision-making and predictions. Despite humans’ fallacies and biases, we bring valuable contextual information into analytics. While there are many open questions about the use of human judgment in forecasting, another level of complexity is arising—the use of algorithms and support systems. Nada also encourages academics and practitioners to work together, especially given the global problems in supply chain and forecasting that have arisen with the COVID pandemic.

Nada recommends “Judgment and Choice” by Robin Hogarth and the collective body of papers by Robert Fildes and Paul Goodwin.

This episode’s guest is Pierre Pinson, Professor of Operations Research at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Department of Technology, Management and Economics (Management Science division), and Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Forecasting.

In this episode, we talk about weather forecasting and communicating uncertainty to a broader audience. Following the current trends, we discuss energy consumption and the possibility of using renewables across the world. Pierre also shares his experience being Editor-in-Chief of the IJF and his views on the future of forecasting.

Pierre recommends Forecasting: Principles and Practice (3rd ed) by Rob J Hyndman and George Athanasopoulos, and also the paper “Computing and graphing highest density regions” by Rob Hyndman.

In this episode, we had the honour to host Dr. Bahman Rostami-Tabar from Cardiff University.

Bahman is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Management Science at Cardiff Business School. His research focuses on forecasting, modelling and its link to decision making, particularly in forecasting for social good. He is the organizer of the Forecasting for Social Good workshops which investigate how and where forecasting can be used to create societal impact. He is also the organiser of the Democratising Forecasting workshops, an initiative sponsored by the International Institute of Forecasters, which provides forecasting tools in developing countries. In addition, he hosts a book club on forecasting — if you want to improve your forecasting skills, you can join along.

Bahman’s book suggestions include Forecasting: Principles and Practices, by Rob J Hyndman and George Athanasopoulos, and Demand Forecasting for Managers, by Enno Siemsen and Stephan Kolassa.

Our next guest is Michael Gilliland, Product Marketing Manager at SAS, member of the board of directors of the International Institute of Forecasters (IIF) and Associate Editor of Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting.

In this episode, Mike tells us how he started his career in forecasting and became a part of the IIF. We also discuss ML/AI methods' role in forecasting and the potential problems and challenges. At the end of this talk, Mike gives several recommendations for must-reads.

This special episode is dedicated to the International Institute of Forecasters (IIF) and the International Symposium on Forecasting (ISF). 

George Athanasopoulos, the current IIF President, is the Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Econometrics & Business Statistics at Monash University, Australia. Pam Stroud has been the IIF Business Director for the last 15 years. In this episode, we talk about some details of conference organisation, funny "behind the scenes" stories, and new features and directions.

If you miss the warm and friendly atmosphere of the ISFs, join us in this lovely chat!

Our next guest is Spyros Makridakis, Professor at the University of Nicosia, the director of the Institute For the Future (IFF), and an Emeritus Professor at INSEAD. Spyros is also one of the co-founders of the IIF and has significantly contributed to the field by running famous forecasting M-competitions.

In this episode, we get his advice on how to build a forecasting career and why strategy is so important. He shares his opinion on the best current forecasting methods and practices. 

Spyros recommends some of his favourite books,  Forecasting Methods for Management and Business Forecasting: Practical Problems and Solutions, along with these papers Accuracy of Forecasting: An Empirical Investigation, and A brief history of forecasting competitions.

This episode’s guest is Stephan Kolassa, Data Science Expert at SAP Switzerland AG, Honorary Researcher, and Associate Editor for the practitioner-oriented journal Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting.

Stephan’s varied work allows him to bring insights from business into academia, combining the best of both worlds. This episode discusses his day-to-day job, his research, and advice on how to build a connection between the two.

Stephan mentioned his recent webinars:
Forecasting Retail Demand: https://youtu.be/sUlToPvftFw
Forecast Accuracy: https://youtu.be/pD_yEmEQCeo

This episode’s guest is Gloria González-Rivera, Professor of Economics and Associate Dean, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, at the University of California Riverside, USA. 

In the episode, we discuss important topics such as the issues with diversity in our community and how to advocate for positivity and open-mindedness, especially in connections between academic forecasters and practitioners. These collaborations and relationships are critical to the industry’s progress. Gloria also shares her forecasting story and philosophy for life.

Our second guest is Robert Fildes, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Centre of Marketing Analytics and Forecasting (CMAF) at Lancaster University, UK.

Robert is one of the founding fathers of the IIF, alongside J. Scott Armstrong, Spyros Makridakis, and Robert Carbone. This episode explores Robert’s experience working towards his PhD in statistics at the University of California, his professional experience in the forecasting world, and the founding of the IIF.