Presented by Scott Nestler, PhD, CAP, Chair, Analytics Certification Board
After a couple years in development, the Certified Analytics Professional (CAP®) program launched at last year’s INFORMS Conference
on Business Analytics and O.R. in San Antonio. Since then, there have been a number of developments. Oversight responsibility for the
program transferred from the task force which brought the program to fruition to the Analytics Certification Board (ACB), comprised of members from industry and academia, including some analytics heavyweights and some non-INFORMS members. During the past 12 months, the INFORMS staff has administered the exam 17 times, from coast to coast, including a site in Canada. Thus far, over 100 qualified applicants have taken the exam, which has a passing rate that is close to 80%. An exciting development for 2014 is the addition of computer-based testing (CBT) to the current pen-and-paper format for the CAP® exam. Besides allowing applicants to test at nearly any time and in hundreds of test centers throughout the United States, this will enable INFORMS to offer the exam in other countries as well. This session provides information about the CAP® program and shows how it can help employers answer questions like, “how can certification help you find and retain analytical talent?” and “why should I support certification for my existing employees?”