Resoundingly Human

Just over a year ago, I was joined by Julie Swann with North Carolina State University to discuss what, at that time, were fears of a second wave of the coronavirus, and to reflect on how the virus had changed nearly every aspect of our day-to-day lives, seemingly overnight.

Now nearly a year later, I am so pleased to welcome Julie back to review what has occurred since we last spoke and to discuss, almost incredulously, growing concern over not just another wave of the virus, but a new variant of the virus, the delta variant, and its impact on steps taken this spring and summer toward reopening and a return to normal.

If you are anything like me, customer loyalty programs can heavily influence your purchasing habits. I may not even be planning to shop until I realize I have reward points to burn, or special members-only savings, and suddenly my virtual shopping cart is full (while my wallet is a little lighter).

Joining me to share some very intriguing insight into how these kinds of programs work and what the actual benefit is to the businesses that utilize them is Arun Gopalakrishnan with Rice University. His study, “Can Non-tiered Customer Loyalty Programs Be Profitable,” was recently published in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science.

As we discussed in last week’s episode, “Using data to address risks in election security,” featuring Josh Dehlinger with Towson University, while the 2020 elections are months behind us, the topic of election security is still making national headlines with new legislation being introduced by a number of states that could impact future elections and raises concern about voter suppression. In fact, at the time of this recording, at least 30 laws have been enacted in 18 states that could potentially impact voter access. 

In this episode we’ll highlight some additional ways that INFORMS members are leveraging O.R. and analytics to provide data-driven insight in support of secure and accessible voting for all. For this discussion I’m joined by Karthik Balasubramanian with Howard University and Chris Parker with American University to discuss their role with BlockPower, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing voter turnout in Black communities. 

Even with the 2020 presidential election now months behind us, the topic of election security is still making headlines with numerous states introducing new legislation. While some are aimed at increasing accessibility, others would enact more restrictions, but overall these are all again raising questions about voter security and ballot integrity.

And as we look back at the 2020 elections, and ahead to the upcoming municipal and midterm elections, how can voter security be better ensured in a way that doesn’t lead to voter suppression?

Joining me to share valuable, data-based insight is Josh Dehlinger with Towson University. We’ll review what we learned during the 2020 elections when mail-in ballots played an unprecedented role due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, discuss some of what is currently unfolding on the national stage in regard to new legislation and election audits, as well as where efforts (and funding) should really be focused to ensure our voting system remains secure and accessible to all.

More than 61 million adults in the United States are living with a disability. To put that into perspective, that translates to 1 in 4 adults are pursuing their personal and professional goals and dreams, all while managing the unique challenges a disability. And while legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), prohibits discrimination to ensure they have the same employment opportunities as everyone else, the unemployment rate for Americans with disabilities is still nearly 18%.

As we strive to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in all settings and situations, there remain opportunities to identify and improve policies and conditions within every workplace setting to support those employees with disabilities in order minimize stigma, increase awareness and understanding of their unique challenges, and ensure their contributions are recognized and valued just as those of employees without disabilities. 

Joining me to discuss his research into the employment of persons with disabilities and the valuable insight this work has provided is Dustin Cole with Michigan State University. We’ll explore some common misconceptions regarding persons with disabilities in the workplace, the value of employing these individuals at all levels within an organization, and additional steps employers can take to ensure they are supporting a productive and inclusive working environment.

Picture it, you look up to the sky at an airspace populated by both manned and unmanned aircraft of all shapes and sizes, delivering goods and people across the country, from the largest cities to the most rural locations.

Sounds like the backdrop to a great sci fi movie set far in the future right? Well, not exactly.

Earlier this year, NASA outlined an Advanced Air Mobility or (AAM) mission to support the safe development of air transportation systems within emerging aviation markets (such as automated aircraft) to navigate existing airspace as well as provide extended reach and service to areas that have been previously underserved.

And while this vision is exciting, there will certainly be many challenges to address in bringing it to life. And the key to tackling these challenges can be found in O.R. tools such as optimization and simulation.

To help explore what our future airspace might look like as well as our path to getting there, I am thrilled to be joined by John-Paul Clarke, a professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin.

While analytics has played a role in professional sports for years, one area seeing increasing adoption and expanding application is within the NFL and its professional football teams.

Joining me for this episode to provide a play-by-play on the growing role of analytics in football, as well as his own journey (with some interesting twists and turns) to working with the NFL is Zachary Steever, a recent graduate of the University of Buffalo. We’ll be discussing his exciting journey through earning his Ph.D. in operations research to a new adventure with the Philadelphia Eagles which will officially kick off with the start of training camp this summer.

At the start of the year, I held my first interview with the 2021 INFORMS president Stephen Graves where we discussed his goals and objectives for the year ahead, as well as got to know our new president a little better! Now almost six months into the year and his role as president, I am once again pleased to welcome Stephen Graves to join me on this episode, to discuss progress and milestones so far and what the rest of the year holds for INFORMS and its members!

On-demand ridesha­res like Uber and Lyft are now as commonplace an option for getting where we need to go as cabs, buses and trains, and arguably more accessible.

However, as rideshares have increased in popularity, so to have concerns over passenger safety, as we’ve seen extensive media coverage over the past several years of driver sexual misconduct and assault, as well as criticism of these top rideshare companies for failing to conduct adequate background checks and other safety protocols.

And while recently, Uber and Lyft have taken steps to better ensure rider safety, to include partnering to create a shared database of banned drivers, these incidences have left passengers, particularly female, potentially questioning the safety of these transportation options and their presence in their communities.

But now, new research provides additional insight to the conversation surrounding rider safety, with new evidence showing that when a rideshare enters a new city, sexual assault rates in the surrounding community can decrease by more than 6%. 

Joining me to discuss his work in this area is Jiyong Park with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His study, “The Deterrent Effect of Ride-sharing on Sexual Assault and Investigation of Situational Contingencies,” will be published in a forthcoming issue of the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research.

A well-known phrase often credited to Benjamin Franklin in the early days of our country (though its origins are actually much earlier) states that “in this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.”

And this certainly remains true, as every spring just like clockwork, we faithfully fill out and submit our state and federal taxes, and bemoan any money owed, or celebrate any unexpected returns.

But with a U.S. federal budget topping $2 trillion … wait how many zeros is that? … it would be nice to know a little more about exactly how the government is spending our tax dollars. And while there are systems in place to make sure the government sticks to its budgets, new research shows there may also be ways around this …

Joining me to discuss their work, which will be featured in the INFORMS journal Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, are Dwaipayan Roy, Anant Mishra and Kingshuk Sinha, all with the University of Minnesota. Their study, “Taxing the Taxpayers: An Empirical Investigation of the Drivers of Baseline Changes in the U.S. Federal Government Technology Programs,” looks at how certain government programs are overseen, how effective the budget monitoring in these areas really is, and what opportunities exist for more clarity and improvement.