AutoReporter We've been busy developing some new products.  We're proud to announce the launch of the Auto-Reporter.

The AutoReporter writes economic and statistical reports automatically.  Our algorithm gathers, analyses, visualises, and interprets data.  Because the process is robotic, it can rewrite whole reports with the tweak of a parameter.  You can follow this link to read a white paper describing the method.  You can may also want to download an example report (showing how the economic downturn will affect Manchester's economy).

There are a range of benefits:

  • Don’t repeat yourself: once a report is written it may be regenerated many times, most importantly, every time new data is made available – even years after the original draft;
  • Be transparent and credible: scripted reports connect open data to decisions through analysis. The evidence base, and the logic used for interpretation is transparent and therefore credible;
  • Don’t worry about carrying errors forward: with manually generated research, any mistakes made at the beginning are costly as the error will be carried forward through subsequent stages. Even after an error is discovered and corrected, subsequent tasks may need to be redone (if they are based on the erroneous data). With reproducible research this process requires no costly repetition of manual tasks;
  • Benefit from lessons learned from other’s mistakes: a single report could be generated for multiple circumstances. It’s likely that if your organisation values the report then others will too. As a result, organisations may find that sharing ideas and techniques will be of mutual benefit (notwithstanding issues of confidentiality or competition);
  • Accuracy: The numbers and graphics reported are accurate. They're calculated from source data each time the report is run. This avoids problems with mismatched versions of data and analysis that often arise from inconsistent manual updates.
  • Power: Once a report has been written for one area, it may be reproduced for others. You’ve written a report for your borough and now you want one for each ward? Fine! Just change the parameters on the report (data permitting) and you can generate the same analysis (data tables and charts) for each neighbourhood.

You can read a case study about how Innovas Consulting employed this tool to produce 60+ tailored Enterprise Catalyst reports to schools in Yorkshire as part of an evaluation of enterprise activities in the region.

We're keen to develop the technology further with our associates.  We can prepare web applications that fit within your own websites, presented in with your own style and branding.  This sort of technology will be valuable if you:

  • employ a common methodology to different clients,
  • are keen to demonstrate credibility with reproducible research,
  • regularly update your analysis with new data, and/or
  • need to produce tailored reports or analyses in bulk (i.e. across many topics, indicators or areas).

There are more exciting innovations in the pipeline so watch this space!