Holland College Business Analytics Centre helping businesses
From ACOA and the Springboard Content Lab
Students, faculty and researchers at Holland College’s Business Analytics Centre are collaborating to help regional businesses develop data-driven solutions to address challenges, gain a competitive edge and contribute to economic growth.
The Centre, based in Charlottetown, PEI, is an experiential learning hub where local companies and organizations collaborate directly with college programs to solve real-world issues.
Kays Wholesale in Charlottetown, P.E.I. recently completed a project with the Business Analytics Centre. The research team conducted detailed sales, inventory and purchasing pattern analyses, which allowed them to identify which items’ sales were increasing or decreasing, seasonal patterns, and forecasted trends. The team developed a dashboard to provide Kays Wholesale with automated reporting moving forward.
“Their professionalism, intelligence and patience to work within our systems and with our team was a pleasure to watch from the beginning of our project. The end product was exactly what we were looking for,”
Luke Beck, CEO of Kays.
Students of the program also benefit from practical learning opportunities; “The program has significantly enhanced my technical skills through exposure to new software, analytical techniques, and a capstone project that allowed me to collaborate with industry professionals,” shared Nagma Nagma, a Data Analytics student and student research assistant with Applied Research who worked with Kays on their project. “I had the opportunity to deliver essential data-driven insights to support their strategic business decisions.”
Director of Applied Research, Shawn MacDougall, wants all organizations to consider how analytics can work for them.
“From sales figures to website visits to crop yields – whatever your business activities, you can benefit from the data analytics support at the Business Analytics Centre
Shawn MacDougall,
Director of Applied Research, Holland College
If you are interested in learning more about the program and how it can help your business, contact Research Associate Junaid Maqsood, MSDE, EIT at Jmaqsood@hollandcollege.com.
ACOA is proud to support Holland College’s Business Analytics Centre as they develop a highly skilled workforce and provide essential resources for small to medium-sized enterprises and start-ups in Atlantic Canada. Holland College is a member of the Springboard Network of 19 post-secondary institutions.