Blog
In our daily work as a data science and quantum computing consultancy, we help our customers use data to solve their real-world business problems. This blog collects our challenges and victories in the pursuit of customer problem-solving.
Another Big Milestone in the Port Data Interoperability Grant Program: the Official Release of $27M in Funds
by Mike Mansour | Jul. 29, 2024
Last week, the CA Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) released the $27M earmarked for data interoperability and technology upgrades for the five containerized ports in California. This grant program, which we designed and implemented along with our partners at GO-Biz and Momentum, is designed to ensure that our containerized ports, which process about 40% of all containerized imports in the U.S., have the technology needed to remain competitive while also driving statewide economic, supply chain, and environmental benefits.
Measuring the Value of Open Source, Part One: Coming Up With Some Numbers
by Alex Scammon | Apr. 23, 2024
No matter the methodology used to calculate its value, it’s certain that Open Source Software is an incredibly valuable commodity. The question is how to take that fact and apply it practically within an organization. In this article, I'll show you some methods I have developed to effectively measure the value created by the large OSS team that I lead for G-Research.
CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program: ISC Visits the Port of Oakland
by Mike Mansour | Apr. 16, 2024
ISC celebrated the milestone of awarding all the funds to the five participating ports by taking a trip to the Port of Oakland, to meet some of the project's stakeholders in person and to witness the immense scale of this world-class facility.
Why Data Science Fails
by Marcus Rabe | Mar. 6, 2024
Every company needs data science and AI — or so they think — while at the same time most data science projects fail to deliver any lasting value. While there is no exact measurement on the percentage of data science projects that fail, there is consensus that the failure rate is quite high. Read on to see some of the most common causes of data science project failure.
[Part 4 of 5] Ethics, bias, and fairness in AI
by Damian Sol | Feb. 28, 2024
It’s impossible to watch the news or scroll social media lately without hearing about AI, often citing its dangers. Like any powerful tool, it has the potential to do harm. You could end up harming people (and your own business) if you don’t design your AI solution with this in mind. Here I’ll give you a high-level overview of three essential focus areas to help you utilize the power of AI in a safe way.
CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program: About Our Draft Proposal Feedback Process
by MIke Mansour | Feb. 27, 2024
One reason ISC was excited to lead the scoring and evaluation portions of the CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program was that it represented an opportunity to identify and implement improvements to the process. We strongly feel that the addition of a feedback round to the grant application process allowed the proposals to be stronger, more competitive, and more aligned with the goals and budget of the State of CA.
HPC in Underserved Regions: The Longest Last Mile
by Alex Scammon | Feb. 27, 2024
Prior to the last Supercomputing23 conference in Denver, there was a pre-conference workshop called NRG@SC23. The purpose of this eye-opening workshop was to bring together a diverse group of researchers from underserved regions to discuss the challenges of running large-scale HPC clusters with limited resources.
[Part 3 of 5] Analytics doesn’t start with data
by Marcus Rabe | Feb. 16, 2024
While learning to write code and looking at data seems the natural starting point of any analytics job, doing so leads to a high likelihood of failure.
CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program: The proposal submission window closed Feb. 8. Awards will be announce Feb. 26
by Mike Mansour | Feb. 15, 2024
We passed a big milestone last week with the CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program. After providing draft feedback on proposals (the first time in the nation that such a grant program has included a feedback stage), the proposal submission window closed on Feb 8th. We will officially announce the awards on Feb 26th. The review process was designed to provide actionable feedback on high-level green/red flags, according to the scoring criteria developed in the initial phase of the project, in order to make the proposals stronger and more competitive.
[Part 2 of 5] What do Pythons and Pandas Have to Do With Data?
by Damian Sol | Feb. 5, 2024
What do Pythons and Pandas have to do with data? The data analysts and scientists at Insight Softmax use Python and Pandas every day to solve complex business problems.
CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program: A Successful Roundtable Discussion in January
by Mike Mansour | Feb. 5, 2024
On January 4th, the CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program team held a roundtable discussion with all of the participating ports, led by the California Association of Port Authorities. Together, we shared proposal status updates, collaborated on non-containerized standards development, and worked towards supporting future funding opportunities.
[Part 1 of 5] Computational Analytics with Python, a Class Taught by Our COO Marcus Rabe
by Damian Sol | Jan. 19, 2024
In this 5-part series, we will follow our COO, Marcus Rabe, as he teaches a 6-week class, Computational Analytics with Python, at Hult International Business School in Boston, MA.
Connecting the dots: How engineer Filip Novović uses Infrastructure as Code to solve real-world business problems
by Marcus Rabe | Jan. 5, 2024
For Filip Novović, cloud infrastructure engineer at Insight Softmax, delving into complex topics and studying academic theories with his coworkers is something he loves about working at the data science company. But what’s even better is taking those ideas and using them to solve real-world business problems for clients.
CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program: The Proposal Window is Open, With a First-of-its-kind Review Process
by Mike Mansour | Jan. 3, 2024
The official proposal framework for the California Port Data Interoperability Grant Program has been released. As of Dec. 12, the five containerized ports in California can submit grant proposals under the program, which is charged with awarding $27,000,000 in total funding for data system modernization and interoperability improvements.
Introducing the California Port Data Interoperability Grant Program
by Mike Mansour | Dec. 13, 2023
ISC is excited to announce that we’re leading a pioneering project, the first of its kind in the US: the California Port Data Interoperability Grant Program. The overarching goal is to improve data system interoperability between the ports and their stakeholders through a series of grants totaling $27,000,000.
Data Is Waste. Only Information Matters.
by Marcus Rabe | Nov. 27, 2023
How businesses create value from their data: Surround it with context, transforming it into valuable information that can be used to make smart business decisions.
How Space Physics Can Help Solve Earth-Bound Data Science Challenges
by Marcus Rabe | Oct. 13, 2023
What do space physics and data science have in common? As it turns out, a lot. George Geddes, a data scientist at Insight Softmax, uses the knowledge he gained from his space-based PhD research to solve earthbound business problems every day.
How ISC Helped a Large Online Marketplace Increase Revenue by 51% Through Personalization
by Hollis Nolan | June 2, 2023
If you’ve ever uttered “Facebook made me buy it,” you know the power of a good recommendation engine. When the algorithm is on point, the tool suggests products and services to you that you didn’t even know you needed.
How ISC helped launch AI solutions in a cross-border transportation company
by Hollis Nolan | Jan. 25, 2023
Logistics is one of the planet’s most essential – and most complicated – industries. There’s lots of room for error when you’re dealing with a (literal) million moving pieces scattered around the planet, but data science gives logistics companies the opportunity to connect those dots.
Conquering the Noise: How We Overcame Variability in Large-Scale Runs of Braket’s IonQ Service
by Hollis Nolan & Tommy Aldo Sonin | Nov. 1, 2022
We’re making great strides in quantum computing, but it’s important to remember the end goal: turning our theoretical research into real-world solutions for business applications.
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