Visualization competition puts spotlight on business analytics

Students in the KU School of Business will put their business analytical skills into practice during a monthlong data visualization competition that opened March 21.

The competition, which is sponsored by Security Benefit, is open to all undergraduate School of Business students in good academic standing. It’s presented by the school’s student Analytics and Information Systems Club.

Teams of two or three students will create a business dashboard that includes at least two pages and has a minimum of two original data visualizations per page, using either Tableau or Oracle Data Visualization. Students can use public data sets or data that they’ve collected to create a dashboard that successfully communicates business data visually.

“This competition complements the topics and techniques students learn in their business analytics courses,” said Chris Claterbos, who has taught and been involved with the business analytics program since its launch in fall 2016. “Companies are increasingly looking to hire professionals who can analyze and effectively communicate data-driven insights. These types of hands-on projects help our students hone their analytical skills.”

Final submissions are due April 19. The top three teams will be chosen to present their dashboards at an event April 25 to a panel of judges, including representatives from Security Benefit, School of Business faculty and the Analytics Club. Judges will determine the final team rankings. The first-place team will earn $1,000, second place will earn $800, and third place will earn $600.

Student teams who are interested in participating can sign up using this registration form. More information, materials and competition rules can be found at this link.