Denise Carter My Favourite Tipples from a competitive intelligence professional in biopharma
Jinfo Blog

19th December 2018

By Denise Carter

Abstract

My Favourite Tipples are shared by Denise Carter, owner of DCision Consult, a competitive intelligence & business analytics service provider to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. She shares some of her favourite resources in the field of AI and machine learning, as well as specialist biotech and pharmaceutical tools.

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A key part of the job of a competitive intelligence professional is to join the dots and also, occasionally, join together what may seem like disparate pieces of information to help predict what may happen next in a given scenario. Reading widely and on lots of different topics helps when required to "think outside the box". Here are some of the resources I turn to to help me achieve that thinking:

  • Medium: I have a daily digest set up which looks at AI, machine learning, blockchain and technology in general. It is interesting to see the different perspectives out there on AI and what it might bring in the future.
  • The Skimm: This daily newsletter from the US gives me a daily snapshot of what's on the agenda stateside. I work a lot with US clients and this is a short, snappy view on current events.
  • Medscape: This is an invaluable first-stop resource for me. I work mainly in the pharmaceutical and biotech areas and this provides a quick overview of medical topics. It has just enough, well-referenced, details to bring you up-to-speed with a new medical indication that a client has just asked about.
  • Medtrack: It is not the only source I use but Medtrack makes an effective starting point from which to build a much more complex answer to a client's request about competitors for a particular medical indication, for instance. It's my primary subscription source for pipeline, company and deals data, and epidemiology for drugs in development and on the market.

For fun:

  • Udemy: I am a frequent purchaser of Udemy online courses. Some are work-related and some are for fun. I'm currently in the middle of an Adobe InDesign course and have just finished a copywriting course. If you wait for the special offers - which are normally around $10 rather than $150 - then you can get some great deals. The courses are available permanently once you have downloaded, so you can take as long as you like to complete, dip in and dip out as you wish. They are generally well-done and broken down into bit-size sections that you can fit in when you have a spare half-hour.

A recent Jinfo article I found particularly interesting:

  • I was very interested to read Diane Thieke's article on AI, "How to transform your thinking for the AI revolution", and its potential impact for information professionals. She talks about the transformative effect AI will have and is already having, and the unique position information professionals have to lead that transformation rather than just be bystanders or be swept along with changes. Diane included interesting perspectives from many influential information professionals and it was good to see a positive perspective, championing the key and abundant skills information folk have that they can exploit effectively to meet the challenges ahead.

Contribute your "My Favourite Tipples"

Would you like to share your "My Favourite Tipples" with the Jinfo audience? For contributor guidelines email catherine.dhanjal@jinfo.com or visit the Publish with Jinfo page.

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