Covid-19: Lessons from history

Targeted social distancing and complete lockdown are the need of the hour

Data and analytics has been playing a pivotal role in today’s life — from recommendations on what music we might like to hear to automated re-routing by our GPS system. But how must the power of analytics be brought to the fore to negotiate with a disease that is currently threatening the health and economic welfare of people across the globe?

If we rewind the clock to the 1850s, there are two significant examples of how early pioneers in data science made incredible impact on the world. These can provide some insights into what we might see happening next.

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