Third annual data analytics competition at DSU
December 19, 2024
The Data Analytics Competition at DSU has returned for the third year, and is again sponsored by Sanford Health.
This free event allows collegiate teams to evaluate big data sets and make data forecasts for real-world business needs while helping students grow their critical thinking, collaboration, and presentation skills.
The competition will include two rounds. The first round will take place over 30 days. Registered teams will receive a link to download the data sets at the beginning of the competition and submit their final analysis and conclusions for judges to select five finalists to present in person at DSU in March.
This year’s problem statement developed by Sanford Health is:
Currently, it is difficult to identify and/or predict when there will be an influx of monthly claims, high dollar claims, or delayed claims presented for process, resulting in higher than normal, expected, or budgeted cash outlay.
Using a claims data set, create an advanced statistical algorithm, ARIMA, Prophet, LSTM, etc. to forecast volume/cash outlay on a monthly basis, forecasting 3 to 6 months in advance.
The competition is open to college students nationwide, in teams of 3-5 students with one advisor, who can apply to participate until 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17. A maximum of 50 teams will be allowed to compete, with a maximum of 10 teams allowed from an individual school. The teams can be a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students.
Teams will receive the data by Monday, Jan. 20 and results for the first round are due by 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22. The top five scoring teams will travel to DSU to present their results during Dakota State’s annual research week on Monday, March 17. Each team will have 15-20 minutes to present their results to the audience. Each finalist team will receive $500 support to help cover food, travel, and other expenses related to the competition.
Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three teams selected from the finalists of the competition, with first place earning $2,500, second place earning $1,500, and third place earning $1,000.
South Dakota Bureau of Information and Technology head Dr. Madhu Gottumukkala will be one of the judges. He is a DSU alumnus, and will also speak at the event.