UCB - Data is the new drug

Abstract

At the end of 2012, the chief information officer (CIO) at UCB, a global pharmaceutical company based in Brussels, started to implement analytics as a service. Between 2012 and 2016, he put this vision into practice, introducing agile sprints and proving the competence of analytics within the organization, and at the beginning of 2016, he felt the company was ready to upgrade its analytics capability. As he prepared to meet with UCB’s chief executive officer in March 2016, the CIO considered how to advise the board as the organization worked to make an impact with analytics and big data against the backdrop of digital turbulence in its strategic environment. How could UCB balance empowerment and bottom-up experimentation with enterprise focus and control? What was the best location for analytics roles and responsibilities within the organization?