The purpose of The INFORMS Section on Practice (aka the Practice Section) is to support and help advance the practice of analytics, operations research and the management sciences.
Just as INFORMS serves all facets of the umbrella profession of analytics, operations research, and the management sciences (OR/MS), the Practice Section serves the entire community of full-time and part-time practitioners. Thus, while it concentrates on practical applications, the Practice Section has wide interests that range over the full scope of analytics/OR/MS methods and fields of application.
The Practice Section is striving to improve its services, in both number and effectiveness. Currently, the activities directly administered by the Practice Section are:
- Franz Edelman Award competition, conducted during the INFORMS spring analytics conference.
- Edelman gala award ceremony and banquet at the INFORMS spring analytics conference
- UPS George D. Smith competition, conducted during the INFORMS spring analytics conference
- Daniel H. Wagner Prize competition, conducted during the INFORMS fall annual meeting, with results announced there and also during the spring analytics conference.
- Practice session track, offered during the INFORMS annual meeting.
- Section newsletter, distributed by email to all members (typically sent semiannually - several weeks before the spring and fall conferences)
- Section website and linkedin group.
In pursuing its objective, the Practice Section seeks to partner with other subdivisions and committees in connection with advancing practice.