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Some people may remember a catchy ad from the 1980s - “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile” - meant to attract a new generation to a modernized car line. Out with the old, in with the new. To borrow the phrase, this is not your father’s A.I.! Artificial Intelligence, or A.I., is no longer relegated to science fiction and film, like Hal, the domineering computer in 2001: Space Odyssey, or Robbie, the life-saving nursemaid robot in Asimov’s I, Robot. A.I. is part of our everyday lives, right now. If you've ever purchased something out of the ordinary with a credit card or bought something at an unusual time or place, you may have had your credit card shut off. In this instance, A.I. identified a pattern characteristic of fraud, something that didn’t fit with your normal behavior, and A.I. made a decision. A.I. is the brain behind the scenes in your social media. It adjusts your feeds, picks possible friends, selects ads, and more, based on what it thinks you want and how you will respond. A.I. helps shape your perceived independent, highly personal decisions. Artificial intelligence uses multiple technologies, including machine learning algorithms, and is being developed for multiple use cases, including automation, autonomy, and as an advanced analytical technique for software solutions. Computer science defines A.I. research as the study of, “intelligent agents, any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of successfully achieving its goals.” A more elaborate definition characterized as A.I. is a system's ability to correctly interpret external data, learn from such data, and use those learnings to achieve specific goals and tasks through flexible adaptation. Looking at this overlapping Venn chart created by Nisarg Dave, first focus on the big, blue circle. That's computer science. Inside computer science, there is a circle for artificial intelligence, inside that is a circle for machine learning, and inside that, another circle for deep learning. Outside artificial intelligence, there are databases and then data mining, which crosses multiple boundaries of A.I., machine learning, deep learning, databases, and cloud computing. Data science encompasses all of those areas. And, if you are from a statistics or mathematics background, you will see both of those areas cross all of those same circles for computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning. This graphical representation highlights the interconnectedness of A.I. in so much of modern technology. A.I. became a named discipline in the 1950s, although work had really begun several years prior. A.I. includes a component known as machine learning, which is the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience. It is further defined as techniques that give computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed to do so. These algorithms build mathematical models based on sample data known as training data in order to make predictions or decisions. Machine learning algorithms are used in a wide variety of applications, such as email filtering and computer vision. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that makes the computation of multi-layer neural nets feasible. When we talk about your credit card being shut off, that's an example of neural nets at work. Those determine patterns, matching your pattern of fraud, and then turning off your credit card. Machine learning is typically broken down into three sub-categories: supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning. Supervised learning algorithms find patterns in both input and output data from a training set of data, and then predict outputs from non-training data based on the learned set of patterns. In the credit card example, the algorithm can be fed input data related to credit card use behaviors and output labels related to whether the behavior resulted in fraud. In supervised learning, data is set with clearly defined outputs. The user essentially defines the patterns for that algorithm to follow. Unsupervised learning algorithms find patterns based solely on the input data. These can be used when you are not sure what to look for; the machine is identifying the patterns from the data and providing that to the user. Reinforcement learning algorithms use positive or negative rewards to achieve certain goals. Source: https://www.newtechdojo.com/list-machine-learning-algorithms/ If you are an operations research analyst most of the techniques listed in the chart above are quite familiar: decision trees, naive Bayes classification, random forest, linear regression, and logistic regression. Also, for someone with experience in statistics, many of these techniques will be familiar. Even if you have little knowledge on the subject, you are, more than likely, a frequent and dedicated recipient of these techniques and concepts. A.I. is deeply rooted in your daily life and activities, even if not so obvious as robot maids and sentient spacecraft computers. Advancements in the field are made daily, and the unimaginable now may become commonplace. Please join Renee for the next phase of this A.I. journey in the upcoming Part II, A.I. Techniques, Platforms & Requirements. Renee Carlucci is our Principal Operations Research Analyst here at CANA Advisors. You can reach her at rcarlucci@canallc.com.

As a passionate practitioner of project and program management for the past 18 years, CANA’s Director of Programs and Project Management, Connie McKissack, brings expert opinions and important perspectives to share in the project management field. In this CANA blog series, she will address questions that project-centric organizations and Project Managers are asking about new developments in project management certification and processes. Part I: The Evolution of Project Management and PMI’s Role This year marks one of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) most extensive changes to the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam and certification. This is exciting because after many years of managing projects and supervising project professionals, we see how the 2021 PMP exam provides an enhanced toolset for both new and experienced Project Managers. Changes in the project management field are long overdue given the emergence, over two decades ago, of Agile Management practices. Since then, process-oriented project management has deteriorated, and Agile practices have come to the forefront. Notable differences in project management theory and execution have become obvious for many practitioners. For example, in the Agile environment, the Project Manager’s role is distributed between team members rather than incorporating heavy processes or following a typical project plan. Additionally, the traditional Project Manager (PMP) forces change control (typical management of scope creep) but an Agile project team needs to accept and manage it. The Agile team members embrace collaboration and communication to produce working systems. In concert with these changes, the value of Project Managers in corporate environments has decreased. This is due, in part, to the amount of process time and effort built into a typical project management role, combined with traditional project management techniques. Many readers would argue that Project Managers don’t even have a role in the Agile space! Some organizations have opted out or have developed their own project management toolkits. Traditional over-processed approaches just do not jibe with Agile-like concepts. It has been an unfortunate reality that PMI, the largest body of knowledge supporting project management, did not update its certifications and training to suit the nature of modern environments and their projects. The value of the PMP was greatly diminished. Many Project Managers who used PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) were left without real tools and practical approaches. Until this year, the PMP exam content was overburdened with business process controls that far exceeded many Project Managers’ ability to actually implement. Organizations found themselves stuffing unnecessary practices into their project life cycles, gradually eroding the perceived value of PMP-certified Project Manager support. In 2015, PMI publicly acknowledged the need to address the evolution of project management into something more attuned and responsive to the current project management environment. The 2021 PMP exam updates are a great starting point. The previous PMP exam aimed for certain types of projects while the new exam focuses on a tailoring approach based on three core domains: People, Process, and Business Environment. The exam content brings the lifecycle of projects into the full spectrum of team building and value delivery. While the process is still a big part of the new 2021 PMP, it only supports the bookends of providing servant leadership with organizational focus. This updated material provides a better foundation for managing change (or chaos) versus constraining it (scope creep); building a team and shared understanding; and the full value delivery spectrum (internal and external). The revised exam will serve Project Managers who need approaches to choosing a methodology, providing servant leadership to the project team, and helping organizations find value in projects while focusing on the change impact. The bottom line: half of the 2021 exam covers predictive project management approaches and the other half is agile or hybrid approaches. ¹ This means most of the pre-2021 PMP exam was heavy on the Process domain; but today, that domain only comprises about 50% of the new 2021 PMP exam. The new 2021 PMP forces the Project Manager to understand their leadership role within the project team and the project (change) impacts on organizations. This is a significant and long-overdue enhancement to the Project Manager’s toolkit. You can read more about why PMI made changes to the PMP on their website: https://www.project-management-prepcast.com/free/pmp-exam/articles/1086-pmp-exam-update-2019#h1-why-is-the-pmp-exam-changing-in-2021 Stay tuned for Part II of this series that discusses why PMP certification is still important and how to prepare for the new exam. Connie McKissack is CANA’s Director of Programs & Project Management and is responsible for driving excellence in program management practices and delivering project management activities to clients. cmckissack@canallc.com Did you happen to catch our CANA Connection Podcast on Project Management and the New 2021 PMI Certification? In this episode our host Rob Cranston talks with some Project Managers and fellow CANA team members Connie McKissack, Jason Fincher, and Hannah Wallace about Program/Project Management, and the Project Management Institute's (PMI) PMP 2021 Certification. (CANA Connection Podcast Link)

As this month of February closes and as the new year becomes less of a new year, I cannot help but reflect on how fast time is truly flying. Taking a moment to slow down, to contemplate, to learn, and to reflect seems awfully simple yet awfully hard, given the busyness of our lives and the stress of real-world concerns. However, it’s important to not let the lessons of February - Black History Month - get overtaken in the day-to-day details of life. We at CANA wanted to offer some ideas to continue to recognize and learn Black History throughout the year with the following ideas and suggestions. Visit a museum History comes alive in our Nation's museums, and many of these institutions had events, conferences and celebrations surrounding Black History Month. Most have excellent exhibits that will extend throughout the year. Get out there and see first-hand our Nation's collective historical treasures. An obvious choice in our Nation’s backyard is the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History (https://nmaahc.si.edu/). Also, many institutions, including the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASAALH) as well as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, offer digital programming for those who are not able to leave home. Read and reflect Libraries, bookstores, used bookstores (my favorite!) — not to mention online repositories and booksellers — are overflowing with interesting and engaging works of literature, history, and biography. Take a break, find a book about a part of Black History that you were previously unaware of and get educated. Take some time to then share and reflect with your friends, family, and colleagues. One single topic can turn into a tapestry of honest discussion. Seek and you shall find...on the internet There are expansive digital resources available online, which continue to provide easy access to Black History Month collages, anthologies, and profiles on Black leaders, historical figures, authors, poets, artists, teachers and more. A really engaging compilation published by Google can be found here under its Google Arts & Culture page -https://artsandculture.google.com/project/black-history-and-culture. It takes a mere three seconds (depending upon how fast you type!) to type the words “Black History” into your search engine, and your world will explode with accessible content! Stay civically engaged One of the best ways to stay engaged and to help contribute to a better society is by contacting members of Congress, whether local, state or federal. Ask them what they did to celebrate Black History Month and what specific legislative actions they plan or are planning to take to ensure your community remains committed to providing opportunities for each and every person. It may not necessarily be part of your routine nor always comfortable to reach out to elected officials, but it is important to share your voice and be informed on what our government leaders are doing and planning. Be part of the process! Lastly, an idea - write a blog! It makes you stop, ponder and realize, oh yes, thinking and learning about and understanding Black History should not be limited to the month of February - it can happen every day. In closing Like Ferris Bueller famously once said, “[l]ife moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.” Let’s find those moments to stop and look around. Black history is interwoven throughout the past, present, and future of our Nation. Let’s see where we’ve come from, and where we need to go! Liz Cranston Liz Cranston is the Chief Executive Officer & Chief Financial Officer of CANA Advisors. You can contact her via email at ecranston@canallc.com.

In early December of 2020, several CANA team members participated in the virtual MORS Emerging Techniques Forum (ETF). Norm Reitter and Renee Carlucci acted as judges for the Visco Prize competition. Walt DeGrange helped with the organization of the event and led a Birds of a Feather discussion on adapting when analytics projects don’t go as planned. Several CANA members, myself included, enjoyed attending briefs and networking throughout the event. A Timely Theme by Lucia Darrow Emerging techniques are often the product of a pressing need for innovation. In 2020 there was no shortage of challenges that required fast and thorough analytical solutions. As such, it was no surprise that the ETF incorporated these ideas into this year’s theme: “2020 ETF seeks advancements in tools and techniques that enable decisive action in complex environments.” Tracks covered topics such as predicting irregular events and measuring resilience, with many talks addressing uncertainty and risk management. Coming from a graduate research background in systems resilience, I was particularly interested in talks within the Systems in Crisis track. It was fascinating to see how the MORS community approached risk management questions with data-driven solutions using methods such as optimization and predictive modeling. The conference talks were accompanied by several fantastic plenary and keynote speakers covering topics from analysis during the pandemic to cybersecurity. Visco Prize Competition by Renee Carlucci In addition to the various tracks, Norm Reitter and I judged the Visco Price competition. The Eugene P. Visco prize was established in March 2019 to honor and to memorialize Gene Visco, FS, who was an ardent supporter of collaboration within the international operations research community and for years represented MORS during the ISMOR. Gene was also a constant supporter of MORS junior analysts and a champion for quality presentations. The purpose of this prize is to promote collaboration between the international operations research community and MORS by providing a high-quality presentation selected at the annual Emerging Techniques Forum (ETF) to the International Symposium on Military Operational Research (ISMOR) every year. This prize will provide a Junior Analyst the opportunity to present at the ISMOR, held in the United Kingdom every summer. The selected presenter will be provided admission to the ISMOR along with housing and travel expenses. Gene Visco was well represented in spirit through six great presentations featuring junior analysts at this year’s virtual ETF. A common theme seemed to be artificial intelligence since machine learning was a featured technique in four of the six presentations. MAJ Jaison Desai, Ph.D., had the winning presentation on “Determination of Influential Factors on Roadway Bridge Sufficiency Using Inspection Data and LASSO: A Proof-of-Concept”. While most existing work using data on our aging bridge infrastructure has focused on optimizing the use of bridge inspectors, MAJ Desai’s work used machine learning to determine what factors are most important for bridge management. In summary Altogether the MORS ETF delivered! Delivered interesting and engaging tracks, delivered opportunities for leadership and participation to this CANA team, and most of all delivered consistency - even though virtual - in providing yet another high-quality conference. If you are interested in learning more about MORS events and conferences, you can visit their website at https://www.mors.org/events. MORS UPCOMING EVENTS: -Designing Tactical Games -Certificate in Cyber Wargaming Tuesday, 9-11 February 2021 Monday, 15-19 March 2021 -Acquisition Analytics for Counter UAS Workshop -Certificate in Survey Process Tuesday, 2-4 March 2021 Tuesday, 27-29 of April 2021 Tuesday, 4-5 of May 2021 Lucia Darrow Is a Senior Operations Research Analyst at CANA Advisors and can be reached through her LinkedIn profile, or via email at ldarrow@canallc.com Renee Carlucci Is a Principal Operations Research Analyst at CANA Advisors and can be reached through her LinkedIn profile, or via email at rcarlucci@canallc.com

2020 was...well, it’s in the past now! It brought us quarantine, working from home, and a whole lot of sitting in front of a screen. Now 2021 is here and your body AND MIND are probably feeling the repercussions of 2020. Here at CANA Advisors we’re used to working from home, it’s how we roll and how we’ve rolled since our founding day over 12 years ago! So, we know a little about an abundance of screen time, desk sitting, and seclusion in one place all day every day. What we also know about, a lot about, are the most beneficial ways to avoid the mental, emotional, and physical stress and strains that come along with these, what our world now calls, new norms. Our Mind Let’s start with the mental and emotional effects of working from home. You no longer have to leave your house for work, and with online shopping, home grocery delivery, telehealth, and the like, you may very well not be leaving your house for much of anything. Along with staying at home likely comes not changing your clothes, not fixing your hair, and… psst… did you brush your teeth today? Plus, ladies, no-make Monday is now 7 days a week, right? Losing a daily routine might seem nice at first, a little time-saving, and maybe it even reduces the stress of your morning, especially if you’re not an early bird like this night owl here. But a routine, especially a morning routine, is so important! In a world that throws so much uncertainty at us, we need to have something solid, something steady in our lives to keep us grounded and sane. For some of us, coffee is the one thing we must have before we can proceed on with the rest of the day. For others, a few minutes in a good personal development book or devotional can set your day on the right path. For me, nothing wakes my soul in the morning like music and my nutritional supplements. It gets me ready for the day's work and workouts! Remember, I’m a night owl, not an early bird! If you don’t have that “it factor” in your morning yet, try one of these to see what works for you. If nothing else, get up, change your clothes, and brush those teeth! You’ll thank yourself all day long! Our Body Alright, that body! It is sitting, staring, slouching, for hours on end. It goes from bed to desk chair, to lunch/dinner chair, likely to the couch, and right back to bed. If you squeeze some exercise in there, you’re rocking it already but you can always do more! If you’re not exercising, it’s easier than you think! I want to share two things with you: basic daily movement and simple exercises suitable for nearly every BODY. Let’s actually start with exercises because it really doesn’t need to be fancy and complex. Number one recommendation… walk! Walk around your room, throughout the house/office, if it’s nice (or if you don’t mind a little weather) take your walk outside. You don’t even need to leave your yard, just get those legs moving. You’re so busy though, right? You’re too swamped at work to leave your desk let alone the house. First of all, that’s an entirely separate blog about not becoming too “busy” and understanding what “busy” really is and is not, but I digress. Second of all, I get it, sometimes you’re in an all-day training, conference call, review session, and that’s understandable. Walk before work, walk after you’re done working for the day, or place that phone on speaker and walk in place during your meetings. I promise, it’s doable. Want something more? Squats, lunges, pushups, planks, are all basic exercises* that can be done right at your desk and can be modified to suit any physical limitations. A fantastic idea to help you stay accountable, and promote corporate wellness at the same time, is to engage your co-workers in these exercises. Here at CANA Advisors, nearly every meeting is a video teleconference. On several occasions, CANA team members have shut their cameras off for a few moments and engaged in some motivational, mid-day push-ups. When they come back on screen, their blood is flowing, their face a bit pink, and their mind is ready to get back in the game. It’s just one part of the CANA culture that I love! Still focusing on that body but let’s talk about movement. Something as simple as just getting out of that chair for two minutes every hour can make a world of difference. Movements involving stretches can relieve body stresses, muscle strains, and (shoutout to mental and emotional benefits) can reset your clarity and focus. Any movement, even rotating your ankles while still seated in your chair is beneficial but there are two focus areas that suffer the most from extended periods of sitting and computer work: shoulders/neck and lower back/hips. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “he/she carries the weight of the world.” Do you know where we carry it? We carry so much tension in our shoulders which ultimately affects our neck as well. Do me a favor, right now, just sit back in your chair, roll your shoulders up-back-down, and hold them there. Do you feel that? I bet you took a nice deep inhale and exhale when you rolled those shoulders. You just exhaled stress! Now while those shoulders are relaxed, allowing your chest to rise and fall with more ease, slowly tilt your head side to side, holding for a few seconds on each side. So simple and so effective! These are two phenomenal moves if you find yourself suffering from headaches as well. You’re going to need to push your chair away from your desk for this next part. Our hip flexors are one of the most overused yet overlooked areas on our bodies. Brace yourself, this next movement tip is more challenging and intense. Stand up. Ok, so I exaggerated a bit on the level of challenge and intensity but the level of benefit is definitely high. If you can spend even a small part of your day standing, I encourage you to do so. Once you’re on your feet, be sure to take a few moments throughout the day to hinge at the hips, bending forward to reach for your toes. Then stand tall, reaching your arms overhead, arching back and side-to-side to lengthen along with the hip flexors, obliques, and abdominal muscles. An instant “wake-up” for your body which not only improves your posture, circulation, and muscle health but, again, these stretches improve mental clarity and focus. So whether your work situation has changed over the past 12 months or not, whether working from home is new to you or business, as usual, get dressed, brush your teeth, integrate frequent movement, stretching, and exercise throughout each day, and just take time to breathe. Written by Stephanie Allison, Senior Project Manager at CANA Advisors and also a certified group exercise instructor and wellness coach with over 9 years experience in the health and fitness industry. You can reach Stephanie at sallison@canallc.com and on Linkedin.

We are excited to have Thomas Scully onboard as a part of our growing CANA Team. Thomas is our Sports Analytics intern and will be helping our Analytics Capabilities Section develop CANA eSports and other sports analytics programs. He is currently a second-semester Senior at Loyola University - Chicago, majoring in Sports Management with a Marketing minor. Thomas shared, "I have been blessed with multiple opportunities in the classroom to expand my knowledge of the sporting world and the analytics base that has developed in recent years. Sports has been a passion of mine for many years and it has been a dream of mine to explore the business and technical aspects of the industry, as I enjoy seeing how things work and how I can improve upon them." We can't wait for the fresh perspective Thomas will bring to our eSports and Sports Analytics! Stay Tuned! Thomas can be reached at tscully@canallc.com and Linkedin. “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming” -John Wooden #teamCANA #CANAAdvisors #CANAConnect #CANAeSports #CANASportsAnalytics CANA Advisors is a veteran-owned, woman-owned, equal opportunity company based out of Gainesville, Virginia in the United States of America.

“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.” ― Mark Manson Kyle joins CANA as a Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellow as he transitions from active duty military service to civilian employment. Kyle spent six years active duty in the Navy as an Intelligence Officer where he focused predominantly on a counterterrorism and Middle East portfolio. Additionally, he has experience in program management and advanced analytics. While at CANA, Kyle will be supporting key logistics planning and Artificial Intelligence research. Kyle graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Research. Kyle can be reached at kdurst@canallc.com and on Linkedin. For more on Hiring Our Heroes, visit our Veteran's Page here. CANA Advisors is a veteran-owned, woman-owned, equal opportunity company based out of Gainesville, Virginia in the United States of America.

The New Way of Working as a New Graduate New Year, New Graduate, New Goals... There is probably a lot of newness in your life, and the question is: how do we adjust and conquer the new? Graduates of the past year have had to adjust to working life in a different way - virtually. Being that CANA Advisors has always been a 100% virtual company, I’ve picked up some tips and tricks to working virtually as a new graduate this past year, and to set meaningful goals for 2021. Working Virtually: The New Way of Working When you are coming into the workforce from college life, you always have an idea about what this “adult life” will be like. You would probably wake up, work your 9-5, have your after-work hobbies, and that would be it. Little did we know this new way of working from home and online could change our lives in such a positive way. I adopted the working from home (WFH) lifestyle from the beginning of my professional career with CANA. CANA not only gave me flexibility in my work life, but also taught me to balance work and my personal life. I think this is the beauty of working virtually. My hope for the future is that companies realize how important it is to give their employees that balance so they can work efficiently and effectively. Don’t get me wrong, I know it can be hard to motivate yourself to work in your home, or even leave your bed sometimes when you really don’t want to. Adjusting to working virtually takes time, but once you find your rhythm and boundaries of the virtual work lifestyle, you will realize how healthy it can be, and how much time you can put into other parts of your life as well. Remember that not everyone works the same. Your rhythm and boundaries could be far different than your co-worker. It’s listening to your body and your brain and realizing what is the best way to work efficiently - for you. Some people may be able to work 5 hours in a row, but maybe you are a person who works an hour and then needs a 15-minute break. That’s okay! Part of adjusting to this working virtually lifestyle is making sure you are sustaining your energy and focus because if you neglect your well-being, it can start to affect other areas of your life. New Goals for 2021 A lot of people think their goals have to be something work-related or to make a certain amount of money, but when I think about goals, I think about the all-around accomplishments that are going to make me better as an employee and also better as an individual. These goals can also help you in this new year - Consistency: This is key because oftentimes we overwhelm ourselves or even underwhelm ourselves with our work and personal life. We want to go really hard or be really lazy. Consistency gives you that balance you need to keep going when you don’t want to, but also the balance of giving yourself rest when it’s needed. Rest: Don’t forget about this one. As new graduates, we want to show our employers and co-workers that we were meant for this, and we are willing to go to the extremes to accomplish our jobs, but don’t forget about yourself and your well-being. You can’t perform at your best if you don’t give your body time to rest. This doesn’t mean sitting on the couch watching TV but just stepping away from your computer or apartment in the slightest way. This could be going for a walk, going to your favorite restaurant, or playing a game of pick up basketball! Whatever puts your mind at ease and gets you to take a break from your work headspace - go for it! Confidence: You are you for a reason. As an entry-level employee, sometimes we can be hesitant about stepping on people's toes or be afraid to voice our ideas because we don’t have as much experience. Don’t be afraid! What we don’t realize as the younger generation is that we have a fresh perspective on the world, and we see it through a lens of change and shifting. One idea of yours could change a company for the better, but you will never know unless you share your ideas. You might get shot down a few times, but that’s okay. That’s part of the learning process. You can never fail, you can either win or learn. As far as we know, working virtually is going to be around for a while. Take advantage of the fresh-tech mind you have as a new graduate and run with it! Set those goals and boundaries, get into a rhythm, and don’t forget to share your ideas. This is a new way of working, and you’re the front runner, kid! If you would like to get in touch with Kassie, you can reach her at kassmcrostie@canallc.com or on Linkedin.

2020 is the year of the virtual conference. The INFORMS Annual Meeting is usually an in-person conference with a typical attendance of 6,000-7,000 attendees. This was my 13th straight INFORMS Annual Meeting and the first virtual one. Was it different? Absolutely, but different isn’t necessarily bad. The major difference was that most of the presentations were recorded. If you registered, then you received access to the recorded presentations for the next three months. This is a very nice feature since this is a huge conference. With over 70 tracks and special events occurring at the same time over a five day period, there are always conflicting interesting presentations and you can’t visit them all. Of course, in-person, you may not be able to get from one location to another in time to see a presentation or an event. The virtual conference solves this problem. It also allows multiple attendees to share their favorite presentations with other attendees. These briefs can then be viewed by the other attendees when it fits their schedule. If most of the briefs were recorded then why didn’t INFORMS just post the videos and hold the conference asynchronously? If you did attend the listed time slot for the presentations then you were able to participate in a live chat with the presenters. The element that no virtual conference can replicate is the chance of interaction with new and old acquaintances. There is really no way at a virtual conference to accidentally run into a professor that you took a class from fifteen years ago. . The INFORMS Annual Meeting did try to inject some of that element by having virtual networking floors. These floors had tables and you would randomly be assigned to a table. I hung out on the floors for a few hours and met several interesting students and discussed their research. In that respect, it was a success, although I didn’t catch up with any old acquaintances during the conference unless I had scheduled a discussion time with them in advance. The major topics addressed during the conference were quantum computing, the role that analytics has played in dealing with the COVID response, and how supply chain data and models have been affected over the past year. CANA participated in the conference on multiple levels. Norm Reitter furthered the Analytics Capability Evaluation Committee effort by hosting an informational session. He also presented the “Force Closure Modeling To Support Multi-mission Scenario Analysis” in support of the USMC. Connor McLemore briefed his research work on “Operational Readiness Rollup: Modeling Additive Readiness”, and Rocky Graciani presented his work on “Determining Who Pays For Inventory Optimization Made Easy-r”. Walt DeGrange was a session chair for the SpORts analytics section for a session that included a wide range of topics from analytically testing which Dungeons and Dragons character classes perform the best, to how bye weeks affect team performance in the Canadian Football League, and how to use analytics to draft the perfect NBA team. So, are online conferences the size of the 2020 INFORMS Annual Meeting here to stay? I would personally guess - yes. The pace of effectively dealing with the COVID pandemic will determine when the world will return to in-person conferences. That being said, the ability to interact with attendees around the world given current travel limitations makes this an excellent way to present new analytics. Also, the ability to interact online with presenters and review presentations up to three months post-event is very nice. Perhaps in the near future, we will see a hybrid model that melds in-person and virtual attendance, giving us the best of both worlds.

CANA's Program and Project Management (PPM) team recently conducted a successful virtual offsite event in November. Together, the PPM team members built a vision framework to support the development of strategies and tactics to achieve their mission for the upcoming 2021 year. CANA’s PPM team worked over two days to complete their activities on MURAL. MURAL is a virtual collaboration whiteboard that CANA uses both internally and for client activities. It’s particularly helpful since our team is widely dispersed throughout the U.S. and Canada. MURAL’s boards allow us to add a variety of resources onto the board including pdfs, website links, photos, videos, text, and sticky notes. For more MURAL projects at CANA, you can see our blog here. The PPM team Director, Connie McKissack, led the group in a series of team-building activities that would eventually result in vision framework products. Beginning with the MURAL board below, she used brainstorming techniques to spark creativity within the team and create a flow of ideas to identify team values and behaviors. Each team member independently shared a set of images that were used to shape the team’s purpose and mission. From this foundation, the PPM team developed distinct strategies for the upcoming year. Mural Board Demonstration CANA's team-building, in-person, offsite events are key components in the company's culture. As a virtual company, CANA makes offsite events a priority to bring the employees together face-to-face for team building, strategizing, and of course FUN! Although 2020 introduced some significant challenges, it enabled our PPM "CANA Bunch" to creatively adapt and overcome. We proved the year’s virtual offsite events could be just as productive and enjoyable as ever before! STEPHANIE ALLISON Is a Senior Software Development Analyst at CANA Advisors and can be reached through her LinkedIn profile, or via email at: sallison@canallc.com HANNAH WALLACE Is a Project Manager at CANA Advisors and can be reached through her LinkedIn profile, or via email at: hwallace@canallc.com

The CANA Foundation was established with the purpose of “giving back to our communities.” While giving back looks a little different this year, the pandemic has certainly not diminished the generosity and giving spirit of the CANA family. In fact, the number of initiatives proposed and accomplished through the Foundation has more than doubled over this time last year! From helping a homeless services planning organization build their capacity through better data visualization, to developing and offering a free virtual analytical methods course for veterans, CANAers have continued to give of their time and professional skills to help others. One of the alternatives to in-person charity was to make financial donations to organizations in the actual communities where our CANA employees live. The far-ranging economic impacts of COVID have made the ability to put food on the table a real struggle for many of our neighbors, friends, and even family. The CANA Foundation chose food banks in each of the regions where our employees live, from California to Maine, and gave a cash donation to those select food banks who are providing real hunger relief in our communities. It is hoped that our contribution will bring some relief and help the greater effort to ensure no one goes hungry during this difficult time. Another tradition for CANA Foundation during the holiday season is our annual Give Back Campaign - now in its fourth year. This program offers each CANA employee a certain number of hours of paid time off to volunteer and “give back” in their local community. The CANA leadership wanted to encourage giving back and make it easier for employees to seek out ways they can make a local difference. This has been a favorite way for CANAers to engage with, and show their support to, those in need right where they live. One CANA employee has participated in each year of the Give Back Campaign and partners with her local Rotary and their program called “Wishes of Christmas.” This program grants nominated individuals “a wish” to fulfill a specific, personal need. We’re so thankful for our employee’s generous spirit and that CANA can support her. As we close out what has been a difficult and challenging year in many respects, we at the CANA Foundation want to wish you and your families a blessed holiday season and look forward to seeing you in the new year! Kenny McRostie Kenny McRostie is a Senior Operations Manager and the Manager of the CANA Foundation at CANA Advisors. If you would like to read more on the CANA Foundation and past efforts you can connect with us at CANA Foundation - Giving Back (canallc.com). Or reach out to Kenny at kmcrostie@canallc.com

Use the same code three times, create a function. Use the same function across multiple projects, create a package? At CANA, we use the statistical programming language R across several projects for its ease of creating data-driven applications and reproducible reports. It’s a great option for exploring data, prototyping solutions, or even taking a model to production. This last summer, several R programmers on the CANA team collaborated on an internal package, canaR, to share standard functions and formatting across our R products. In this post, we share some lessons learned from creating an internal package. The DRY Principle Most programmers are familiar with the DRY principle (Don’t Repeat Yourself) which aims at reducing repetition in code. Reasons to follow this principle are abundant: less effort for the programmer, reduced chance for error across multiple uses of the same code, and streamlined testing. In R, this translates to the use of functions and packages as a best practice. Packages are a natural unit to distribute code within a team as they include functions, tests, documentation, and vignettes. The package development process has become increasingly accessible in recent years due to tools such as usethis, testthat, and roxygen2. Package Development Approach The canaR development process was a collaborative effort led by CANA’s R programmers. For our internal package, functions fell into three key categories: style and branding, rounding, and visualizations. Style and branding functions in the canaR package provide uniformity across our R products by creating a standard for document, table, and plot appearance. These offer a jumping off point for tailoring by analysts as they utilize the formatting functions and geoms on different projects. The canaR development team worked with CANA’s graphic designer, Koa Beam, to create custom, color blind-friendly palettes to fit categorical, sequential, and diverging types of data visualizations. Rounding functions are another crucial and often underestimated challenge for standardized results. Working with repetition results of a simulation and/or collaborating with team members that use a different software can lead to some tricky rounding challenges. Sample functions in the canaR package that tackle these challenges perform actions such as aligning rounding results to what is expected in Excel, or controlling rounding for aggregations. Visualization functions in canaR create unique data visuals not covered by existing packages. One of the functions that is helpful for working with dateless planning scenarios is the ‘relative timeline,’ created by CANA team member, Aaron Luprek. This data visualization function creates a time line centered around zero, which allows for showing results that are time-based but not associated with a certain date. Sample Relative Timeline Graphic Once the functions were built, the package development team worked together to create clear documentation, examples, and vignettes for future users. We used the testthat package to streamline our testing approach. The final touch was the package naming convention. In the tradition of some of our favorite tidyverse packages, we saw the opportunity to incorporate a little French (ala magrittr) and an animal reference (ala purrr). Hence, canaR as a sly reference to the ‘canard,’ French for duck, and a diverting duck logo. Resources Interested in creating your own R package? There are many resources available! Here are just a few that our team found helpful in developing canaR: Hadley Wickham and Jenny Bryan - R Packages (Book) Hilary Parker - Writing an R package from scratch (Blog) Malcolm Barrett - Zen and the Art of R Package Development (Video) John Muschelli - R Package Development Series (Video) Lucia Darrow Is a Senior Operations Research Analyst at CANA Advisors and can be reached through her LinkedIn profile, or via email at: ldarrow@canallc.com