IÉSEG MSc participants take part in ‘big data analytics’ hackathon organized with Leroy Merlin
04/13/2017
Participants in IÉSEG’s Master of Science in Big Data Analytics for Business have been taking part in a ‘big data analytics’ hackathon that is organized in collaboration with Leroy Merlin, the French market leader specializing in home improvement and gardening retail.
They have been working over the last two months, in small groups, on two big-data related challenges that have been identified by Leroy Merlin: stock optimization; and optimizing the choice of products on display in stores.
The hackathon has been organized in the framework of the program’s “Connected Vision Tour” course which aims to expose participants to leading edge business, technology and methodology practices in the fields of marketing, finance and operations.
The company has provided participants with real ‘data’ to so they can work on providing solutions to the two challenges. After a number of sessions exchanging with staff from the company and Academic Director of the Program, Kristof Coussement, they presented their final recommendations to representatives from Leroy Merlin at the end of March.
Dr. Kristof Coussement, explains: “This is a fantastic opportunity for participants to put into practice the different statistical and coding techniques that have been learning in class. Furthermore, they are put in a real business situation they are likely to face in the future careers. We are extremely grateful to Leroy Merlin for their ongoing support and collaboration.”
Following the final presentation on the 20th March, the winning team on each challenge has been invited to take part in the Leroy Merlin Big Data days which were held on the 30th March at Terradeo (the headquarters of Adeo – Groupe Leroy Merlin), in the presence of staff from the company, IT experts, and Marc Delozanne, Directeur Général Délégué at Leroy Merlin France.
Testimonial :
Elodie Lambert, Talent recruiter, Leroy Merlin
“We know the quality of education at IÉSEG and wanted to organise this Challenge to benefit from the views of these MSc participants specializing in big data, in order to improve our business. We are delighted with this collaboration! The implication of the participants has been such that they have they have tackled the challenges we presented in a way which has complemented our own activities.The next step for us is to test their solutions in the shops (and we hope with the support of some them!)”