Expert System and Sanofi co-chaired a lively roundtable discussion during the recent Pharma CI conference in Parsippany, New Jersey. Our topic, “Being First”, generated several key insights into how competitive intelligence (CI) team members can leverage data repositories, link knowledge threads and produce timely, actionable intelligence for decision making across the pharma teams. One participant noted in many cases the CI professional must “earn their place at the table” since CI is cross functional and must synthesize data from R&D; commercialization; clinical trials; and regulatory/news teams. In these cases, being the first to know can bring increased value, as-well-as legitimacy.
Barbara Inglese, Principal Competitive Analyst at Sanofi, identified certain common barriers to being first:
- Multiple Sources & Languages
- Multiple Tools & Terminologies
- Data Duplication
- Data Integration
- Data Analysis
- Primary Intelligence
- Internal Information Silos
- Proactive and On-demand Dissemination
- Shifting Corporate Priorities
- Re-organization/Re-structuring
- Acceptance/Adoption of New Tools/Technologies
Participants also noted that in some cases new technology can be so disruptive to previous work-patterns and established relationships with outside consultants, many CI teams don’t adopt new solutions, working with point solutions that don’t analyze, link and normalize various data repositories. Round table co-chair Archna Bhandari, also spoke to the challenges of repository monitoring and used our team’s recent Biopharma Navigator integration of US CMMS Sunshine Act Data on Financial Transparency as a case study.
Archna noted that government data-sites are not easy to navigate and analyze; She also noted that data augmentation and on-demand dissemination with raw government data is not useful and requires discovery and curation tools, like the Biopharma Navigator. All participants agreed that the digital avalanche of content requires 24/7 monitoring and constant oversight so that the CI teams can serve their “customers” across the pharma enterprise.
We will be reviewing these and other findings from the Pharm CI conference at the up coming Webinar on https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4002042390894163458?source=expertsystemwebsite on Nov 2, 2017 at 1pm ET/10am PT
Blog post written by John Paty, Vice President, Science & Health of Expert System
