The Swiss Association for Analytics recently launched a new publication called Swiss Analytics Magazine. Each issue will feature interviews with leaders in analytics, technical articles, case studies, book reviews, company profiles, and event agenda. In its inaugural issue, the magazine covers several analytics topics with a focus on forecasting. For instance, Marcel Baumgartner explains forecasting at Nestlé, SAS’s Mike Gilliland is interviewed about forecasting performance, and Jean-Marc Vandenabeele describes bounce rates in web analytics. The English-language magazine will be published twice annually. Free printed copies will be handed out at several upcoming events, including the Swiss Statistical Society event October 8–10.

News Round-Up

Caribbean Community—Philomen Harrison, project director for regional statistics, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, was named the first president of the newly formed Caribbean Association of Professional Statisticians (CAPS) at the organization’s inaugural meeting last month in St. George’s, Grenada.

Additional members of the board of directors include the following:

• Vice President: Iwan Sno, director, General Bureau of Statistics, Suriname
• Vice President: Statchel Edwards, chief statistician, Statistics Department, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Public Administration, Antigua and Barbuda
• Representative of Council of Chapters: Sean Mathurin, program officer, Statistics, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat
• Representative of Council of Chapters: Carol Coy, director-general, Statistical Institute of Jamaica
• Representative of Council of Chapters: Dave Clement, former director of statistics, Central Statistical Office, Trinidad and Tobago
• International Representative: Eric Rancourt, director, International Cooperation Division, Statistics Canada
• Secretary: Gatlin Roberts, chief statistician, Finance Statistical Office, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Central Planning Division, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Treasurer: Sonia Jackson, former director-general, Statistical Institute of Jamaica

Malaysia—The newly formed International Statistical Institute (ISI) South East Asia (SEA) Regional Network invites you to Kuala Lumpur for the ISI Regional Statistics Conference 2014 November 16–19. The conference, themed “Statistical Science for a Better Tomorrow,” will bring together statisticians and practitioners from industry, academia, and government and students, researchers, and policymakers to share insights on the application of statistical science for discovery, innovation, and policy to create a better tomorrow.

United Arab Emirates—A high-level delegation from Statistics Center-Abu Dhabi (SCAD) recently visited their counterparts in South Korea to finalize an agreement for mutual cooperation and data exchange between the two national statistical organizations. The meeting resulted in the activation of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that SCAD signed with Statistics Korea in September 2012. The MoU addresses the provision and management of mutual support and the development of various forms of cooperation in the field of official statistics.

United States—The Bureau of Justice Statistics and its data-collection agents—RTI International, Westat, NORC at the University of Chicago, and the U.S. Census Bureau—recently received the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s (AAPOR) 2014 Policy Impact Award for their innovative efforts to measure sexual victimization in correctional facilities. They were selected for state-of-the art, multi-measure, multi-mode data collections that relied on victim self-report surveys and administrative records and the subsequent findings from the research that were widely covered by the media. The award was presented at the AAPOR annual conference in May.