How Data Science Happens

I have a chapter in our planned book, Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research. In this book, co-edited with Prof. Natalie Scala, our authors explore the fundamentals of operations research in a military context. From our call for chapters:

Operations research (OR) is a core discipline in military and defense management. Coming to the forefront initially during World War II, OR provided critical contributions to managing supply chains, strategic simulation, and enabled superior management for Allied forces. Since these early days, OR has grown to include analytics and many applications, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and big data, and is the cornerstone of management science in manufacturing, advertising, telecommunications, and many other fields. In the Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research (MDOR), we will present the voices leading OR and analytics to new heights in security through research, practical applications, and lessons learned in the field.

My chapter in this book is an introduction to data science. It is general, but is presented in the context of national security and is largely based on my own experience working in the homeland security sector. This is a draft chapter, and so it may go through a major rewrite. But it has already been through one and I just uploaded the current version to SSRN. Feel free to send me any comments or suggestions you have.