Category Archives: Decision Optimization

Decision Optimization Technologies

Java Solver: Modeling and Solving Decision Optimization Problems

Dr. Jacob Feldman announced availability of a new open source product “Java Solver” that provides a very simple API for modeling and solving optimization problems in Java. This is probably the simplest API for adding optimization components to business decisioning … Continue reading

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Similarity in Machine and Human Decision Making

In his new post “Artificial and Human Intelligence” Alain Chabrier from IBM describes decisions the members of his own  family make while packing for vacation. In simple terms Alain nicely explains how we use 3 major Decision Management techniques (Rules, … Continue reading

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Explaining Decision Optimization Recommendations

Explainability is a hot topic. Decision models are used to trigger recommendations such as “accept” or “refuse” a loan, but they also need to explain WHY they recommended certain decisions. Alain Chabrier from IBM DecisionOptimization team uses Portfolion Allocation problem … Continue reading

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Modeling and Solving Scheduling Problems with CP Optimizer

The Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP) is a classical problem among the myriad scheduling problems studied both in academia and in industry. Philippe Laborie, a principal scientist at IBM, describes how it can easily be modeled and efficiently solved using … Continue reading

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Giving Algorithms a Sense of Uncertainty

MIT Technology Review published this article Giving algorithms a sense of uncertainty could make them more ethical: “Algorithms are built to pursue a single mathematical goal, such as maximizing the number of soldiers’ lives saved or minimizing the number of … Continue reading

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Decision Making, Decision Optimization | 1 Comment

“Old” AI vs Deep Learning

Vincent Gosselin from DecisionBrain wrote: “At last an article that takes a realistic view of AI rather than a sole focus on deep learning. We recently came across a failed AI project where a fairly hyped company, let’s call it … Continue reading

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Finding Optimal Locations of New Store using Decision Optimization

Vincent Beraudier, IBM, in his notebook describes how to model and solve the following business problem: “A fictional Coffee Company plans to open N shops in the near future and needs to determine where they should be located knowing that … Continue reading

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Decision Optimization fueling growth in Energy and Utilities

Decision optimization and machine learning techniques are driving better resource planning and scheduling decisions at Energy & Utilities for a range of use cases like power generation planning, pricing optimization and more. Link

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Decision Optimization for Dynamic Pricing

FICO posted an interesting article “Fair Pricing with Price Optimisation”. A similar system “Using Machine Learning, Business Rules, and Optimization for Flash Sale Pricing” has been developed by OpenRules.  These examples demonstrate the power and flexibility of Decision Optimization when business rules, … Continue reading

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Solutions to Nov-2018 Challenge “Vacation Days Advanced”

We’ve already received 3 submissions with solutions to our November challenge “Vacation Days Advanced” using different tools: FICO Blaze Advisor, OpenRules, and DT5GL . Contrary to the 2016 challenge “Vacation Days”, this one doesn’t have inter-rules relationships like “apply this rule only … Continue reading

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