How Consumers and Retailers Can Reduce Returns

Americans return about 30% of their online purchases, costing retailers billions of dollars and creating mountains of environmental waste. Gad Allon spoke with Wharton Business Daily on SiriusXM about how consumers and retailers can reduce costly returns.

• Operations Information and Decisions

Anita Allen to receive the Philip L. Quinn Prize

The American Philosophical Association (APA) has selected Anita L. Allen, Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy, as the 2021 winner of the APA’s Philip L. Quinn Prize, the greatest tribute the APA has to offer in recognition of service to philosophy and philosophers, broadly construed.

• Law
• Philosophy

Refining data into knowledge, turning knowledge into action

More data is being produced across diverse fields than ever before, and our ability to collect, store, and manipulate it grows by the day. With scientists reaping the raw materials of the digital age, there is an increasing focus on developing better strategies and techniques for refining this data into knowledge.

• Bioengineering
• Electrical and Systems Engineering

Investing in Penn’s data science ecosystem

Led by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Penn's IDEAS initiative builds upon the steadily gathering momentum of its data-centric research. The Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences has been a major catalyst for this type of work, generating foundational research on ethical algorithms and data privacy.

• Computer and Information Science
• Electrical and Systems Engineering
• Physics and Astronomy

University professorship for Konrad Kording

Konrad Kording, who holds joint appointments in the Department of Neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Department of Bioengineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will become the Nathan Francis Mossell University Professor.

• Bioengineering
• Neuroscience

Anita L. Allen explains why Facebook’s decision to shut down its facial-recognition system is good for privacy rights

Earlier this month, Facebook announced that it was shutting down its Face Recognition system and will delete more than a billion people’s individual facial-recognition templates. Penn Law spoke with Anita L. Allen about her insights on Facebook’s decision and what may have prompted it.

• Law
• Philosophy

What Big Data Reveals About Online Extremism

Homa Hosseinmardi and her colleagues at Duncan Watts' Computational Social Science Lab studied browsing data from 300,000 Americans to gain insights into how online radicalization occurs — and to help develop solutions.

• Communication
• Computer and Information Science
• Operations Information and Decisions

One Person, Many Needs: How Customer Centricity Has Changed

In a recent workshop, Eric Bradlow encouraged firms to think beyond the old-school definition of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) — a metric that captures the worth of the entire relationship between firm and consumer. He said the modern definition of CLV includes how a single customer’s needs change over time.

• Economics
• Education
• Marketing
• Statistics

Social Media Bots May Appear Human, but Their Similar Personalities Give Them Away

Social bots, or automated social media accounts that pose as genuine people, have infiltrated all manner of discussions, including conversations about consequential topics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. A new study from Lyle Ungar and collaborators gives a closer look at how these bots disguise themselves.

• Computer and Information Science

School of Arts & Sciences Launches New Initiative in Data Driven Discovery

The School of Arts & Sciences has announced the establishment of a new Data Driven Discovery (DDD) Initiative, which will act as a hub for data science education and research across the School. Bhuvnesh Jain will serve as one the initiative’s inaugural co-directors.