Rotman Datathon 2025
January 7th, 2025 - January 17th, 2025
The Rotman Datathon 2025, supported by Rotman Masters in Management Analytics (MMA) and hosted by the BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab at the Rotman School of Management, invites prospective graduate students from around the world to participate.
The online Datathon is 5 days long and is a chance for you to test your analytical and teamwork skills. We hope that you leave the Datathon with a greater understanding of your own skills and what more you can do with analytics. Participants in this competition are from all over the world, and we look forward to showcasing the MMA program and the Rotman School of Management.
Starting with a kick off and orientation, we will equip you with the right information and tools to help pave a successful path for our participants.
By participating, you will be invited to two special information sessions focusing on skill development, ideation and strategy.
Finally, we will wrap up with a Final Presentation and Awards Ceremony with our esteemed judges and celebrate your success.
You can also learn more about the MMA program under the Master of Management Analytics @ Rotman module.
Scholarship Entrance Awards
1st Place - CA$5,000
2nd Place - CA$3,000
3rd Place - CA$1,000
- Awards are contingent upon successful admission and subsequent enrolment in the MMA program.
- Entrance Award per team member to the MMA Program for August 2025 start.
Registration Dates
Registration Opens
November 19th, 2024 at 12:00 pm EST
Registration Closes
January 6th 2025 at 11:59 pm EST
Fees
This event is free to attend
Location
Virtual Online – Join via Zoom Meeting
* Meeting link will be sent via email upon registration
Qualification
- If you are a working professional or a current undergraduate or graduate student in a degree program at university level.
- Two student members are required per team.
Datathon Timeline
January 7th, 2025 at 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST | Briefing Sessions
- You you receive the link to join the virtual zoom session meeting.
- If you did not register as a team, we will assign you to a team.
- Make sure you communicate with your team and get to know each other during the session.
January 9th, 2025 at 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm EST | Information Session #01
- We will offer a live information to go over the case and datathon structure, and
- Q&A session on Zoom about the case and data.
January 10th, 2025 at 9:00 am – 10:30 am EST | Information Session #02
- We will offer a live information to go over the case and datathon structure (Identical to session #01), and
- Q&A session on Zoom about the case and data.
January 13th, 2025 at 9:00 am – 11:00 am EST | Briefing session and kickoff
- The data download link will be emailed to you after you complete the competition waiver.
January 13th, 2025 at 11:00 am – January 16th, 2025 at 11:59 pm | Datathon Period
- Teams have 4 days to work on the case remotely.
- Throughout the Datathon period, our lab assistants will be available to answer your questions sent to our service desk (financelab@rotman.utoronto.ca).
January 16th, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST | Closing & Submission
- Presentation submissions.
- There is a PowerPoint template where you will present your solution, will be sent to you via email.
- Please see “project guidelines” section below for more details about the report format and submission instructions.
January 17th, 2025 at 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST | Presentation & Awards Ceremony
- These teams will then present their solutions during the presentation session.
- The final judging will take place immediately, and the three winning teams will be announced at the end of the session.
- The five shortlisted finalists will be announced during the award ceremony session.
Technical Requirements
- You may use analytical software of your choice.
- You can use statistical/machine learning software of your choice.
- Please note that the focus is on insights, rather than on algorithms, so complex models do not necessarily imply better analysis.
Case
Analyzing the Impact of Rising Cost of Living Relative to Economic Development and Supply Chain Dynamics
1. Overview
In recent years, the rising cost of living has significantly impacted households, businesses, and entire economies. As living expenses grow faster than income in many regions, the strain on consumer spending extends into broader economic effects, influencing everything from purchasing behavior to supply chain stability. Rising costs put particular pressure on supply chains, as businesses struggle to manage production costs, transport, and labor prices, which then impact product availability and affordability for consumers.
For this iteration of Rotman Datathon 2025, participants will analyze data on cost of living, economic development, and supply chain metrics to explore these dynamics:
1.1. How does the rising cost of living impact supply chain stability and costs?
1.2. What economic and regional factors contribute to cost increases within supply chains?
1.3. How can organizations adapt supply chain strategies to mitigate the effects of rising costs on consumers?
Teams will utilize a mix of economic, supply chain, and cost-of-living indices to develop insights and propose strategies that help businesses and policymakers maintain supply chain resilience in the face of economic pressures.
2. Business Objectives
The participant task is to build a data-driven model that examines the relationships between rising living costs, economic development, and supply chain performance. The end goal is to produce actionable insights that address the following questions:
2.1. Correlational Insights:
- What patterns emerge between cost-of-living increases and supply chain disruptions?
- Are certain regions or industries more susceptible?
2.2. Supply Chain Resilience Modelling:
- Which economic indicators most strongly impact supply chain costs.
- How can these insights guide predictions of supply chain challenges?
2.3. Strategic Recommendations:
- What adaptations can businesses make to their supply chains to buffer against cost increases?
4. End Goal
Provide a set of recommendations for businesses and policymakers to help ensure that supply chains remain stable and cost-effective even as living costs and economic pressures rise.
5. Analytical Task
5.1. Data Analysis and Exploration:
Investigate the correlation between rising living costs and supply chain variables, identifying key regions or demographics most affected.
5.2. Predictive Modelling:
Create a model to forecast potential shifts in supply chain costs based on economic and living cost trends.
5.3. Insightful Recommendations:
Propose actionable strategies for businesses to adapt their supply chain management practices to withstand economic challenges.
6. Deliverables
6.1. Data Plan:
Outline the methodology for merging and structuring data from multiple sources, identifying transformations for supply chain analysis.
6.2. Correlation Analysis and Predictive Model:
Detailed documentation of findings from the correlation analysis and model outputs, highlighting supply chain implications.
6.3. Presentation:
A business-oriented summary of insights, focusing on actionable supply chain recommendations designed for stakeholders and policymakers.
7. General Guidance
7.1. Project Feasibility and Scope:
Focus on key variables that best highlight the interplay between cost of living, economic factors, and supply chain stability.
7.2. Supply Chain Impact Insights:
Emphasize insights that are relevant for businesses aiming to make informed decisions about supply chain adaptations.
7.3. Modelling Approach:
Prioritize simple, interpretable models (e.g., regression analysis, time series forecasting) that effectively illustrate the relationships between economic factors and supply chain metrics.
Copyright Disclaimer: This case package, prepared by Bachir Chehab, Associate Director at the BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, may include copyrighted material. The content is provided to enhance understanding and facilitate education in areas such as technology, innovation, higher education, finance, decision-making, and social equity. I believe this use constitutes ‘fair dealing’ under section 29 of the Canadian Copyright Act, as it is intended for educational purposes, research, and private study, with the aim of fostering learning and knowledge sharing.
Available Data & Suggested Indices
Participants will use or be provided with the following datasets and indices:
Cost of Living Data
- Consumer Price Index (CPI): Tracks changes in the price level of a market basket of consumer goods and services
- Cost of Living Index: Includes various cost-of-living factors, such as rent, food prices, and average household costs by city and country.
Economic Development Indicators
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita: Assesses the economic output per person in a region.
- Human Development Index (HDI): A composite of life expectancy, education, and income, giving a broad view of development.
- Gini Coefficient: Reflects income inequality, indicating economic disparity.
- Unemployment Rate: Tracks economic stability and employment trends.
Supply Chain Metrics and Indices
- Producer Price Index (PPI): Measures changes in selling prices received by domestic producers for their output, directly reflecting production costs.
- Logistics Performance Index (LPI): Assesses a country’s logistics environment, crucial for understanding supply chain resilience.
- Freight Rate Indices: Tracks shipping and transport costs, crucial as transportation is often impacted by cost-of-living changes.
- Supply Chain Volatility Index: Measures fluctuations in supply chain stability, helping identify which sectors are most affected by rising costs.
Household Income and Expenditure Data
- Average Household Income: Provides insight into purchasing power and disposable income, impacting demand and supply chain dynamics.
- Household Expenditure Data: Helps identify consumer behavior changes in response to rising costs, which impact supply chain demand.
Judging Criteria
All submissions will be judged by a panel comprised of Rotman faculty and industry experts.
The submissions will be judged on the following criteria:
Problem Framing:
Clear articulation of the business questions and understanding of the supply chain impact.
Data Management and Analytical Rigor:
Effective integration of data sources, appropriate transformations, and sound analysis.
Model Design and Insightfulness:
Thoughtful modeling choices with relevant findings tied to supply chain resilience.
Presentation Quality:
Clarity of insights, relevance of recommendations, and effective communication for stakeholders.
Project Report Guideline
Written Practice & Standards
- The report should be formatted as presentation slides and can be created using MS PowerPoint, MS Word.
- Accepted file formats include PDF/DOCX/ZIP, etc. If there are multiple files, compress them into a single ZIP folder before attaching to your email
- Design your presentation slides by adding text, tables, charts, and other content.
- Utilize pre-designed templates that follow accessibility guidelines and industry standards.
- Take advantage of design tools to enhance the visual appeal of your presentation.
- Framing the content, plan language, clear layout and giving examples.
- Spelling and punctuation, dates and measurements, abbreviations and acronyms, capitalization, formatting.
- Include cover page, table of contents, model specifications, investment strategies, fund performance, and references.
- For more writing guidelines, Click Here.
Formatting Rules & Title Page
- Use any approved font, like Arial or Times New Roman.
- The font size should be easy to read without being so large that it limits the amount of content.
- Line spacing 1.5
- University Name
- Name of Instructor
- Team Name
- Students names.
Table of Content must follow page order and should contain
- Headings/ Titles and Sub-titles
- Number of slides 8-15
- List of Tables and Figures
- List of Appendices (if any)
References (APA)
- For detailed guidelines on APA References, Click Here.
**Must follow academic writing standard
Submit final report to the FRT-Lab
- Please email financelab@rotman.utoronto.ca by January 16th, 11:59 PM (EST). Late submissions will not be accepted.
- You should recieve confirmation of receipt within 24 hours.
- When submitting report via email, ensure your email body includes the following:
- Your institution name,
- Case title (Case Name/Competition Name)
- Team Member Full Names,
- Email Addresses,
- Phone Numbers
- Brief overview of your submission, including key highlights or innovations (this is optional).
- When submitting report via email, ensure your email body includes the following:
Judges
Our Datathon Judges are all highly involved with the analytical community here at Rotman and in Toronto. They will be an integral part of your MMA journey.
Gerhard Trippen
Academic Director
MMA Program
Ryan Webb
Academic Director
TD MDAL
Craig Geoffrey
Academic Director
BMO FRT-Lab
Dmitry Krass
Professor
Operations Management and Statistics
Bachir Chehab
Associate Director
BMO FRT-Lab
Brian Keng
Data Scientist in Residence
TD MDAL
Meghan Chayka
Data Scientist in Residence
TD MDAL
Jay Cao
Research Associate
TD MDAL
About the Judges
Gerhard Trippen, Academic Director, MMA Program
Gerhard Trippen is an Associate Professor in Quantitative Methods and Operations in the Department of Management at the University of Toronto Mississauga, with a cross-appointment to the Operations Management and Statistics area at the Rotman School of Management. Gerhard teaches Operations Management and Statistics for the Master of Management and Professional Accounting Program (MMPA) as well as Analysis for Decision and Control for the undergraduate program at the University of Toronto Mississauga. At Rotman Gerhard teaches Operations Management.
Brian Keng, Data Scientist in Residence, TD MDAL
Brian is Research Director at Borealis AI, a research centre created by Royal Bank of Canada, and an Adjunct Professor in Data Science at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. At Borealis, he leads the incubator program building out innovative AI-enabled products and capabilities for the financial services industry. At Rotman, he plays a key role in shaping data science education and research through his work with the TD Management Data and Analytics Lab and the Master of Management Analytics program, and by working directly with faculty and students.
Meghan Chayka, Data Scientist in Residence, TD MDAL
Meghan Chayka is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Stathletes, a sports analytics and insights business that provides industry leading data precision within the sport of hockey. Meghan has built a team in Niagara, Waterloo and Toronto working on creating the new era of sports technology. Having a wide variety of clients, Meghan was named in the 2018/2019 season Top Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Ontario Chamber of Commerce), Top 40 under 40 (The Athletic NHL), and on the Top 100 of Power & Influence in the Hockey News. At Rotman, she plays a key role in shaping the data science education and research through her work at the TD Management Data and Analytics Lab, including involvement in external, internal, and student-led events focused on data science.
Ryan Webb, Academic Director, TD-Management and Data Analytics Lab
Ryan Webb is an Associate Professor and Academic Director of the Management Data and Analytics Lab (TD MDAL) at the Rotman School of Management. His research integrates the disciplines of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics to provide insight into consumer behaviour. His recent research includes developing tools to predict consumer choices from measurements of neural activity (fMRI and EEG), and modelling consumer behaviour from the principles of information coding in the human brain. He has received a Ph.D. in Economics from Queens University and research fellowships from New York University and the California Institute of Technology. Learn more about Ryan’s work
Jay Cao, Research Associate, TD-Management and Data Analytics Lab
Jay Cao is a Research Associate at the TD Data Management and Analytics Lab and the point of contact for the Lab’s day-to-day activities. He has extensive experience in data management, big data technology and research computation on high performance computing platform. At TD-MDAL, he supports an analytics computing platform, and helps students and researchers to apply big data and machine learning tools to solve complex management problems.
Dmitry Krass, Professor, Operations Management and Statistics, Sydney C. Cooper Chair in Business and Technology
Dmitry Krass is a Professor of Operations Management and Statistics and Sydney C. Cooper Chair in Business and Technology. Obtaining his Ph.D. in Operations Research from Johns Hopkins University, he joined the School in 1989. He consults extensively in the areas of Predictive Analytics, Optimization of Marketing Communications and Operational Effectiveness. His research and teaching interests include facility location models, transportation, reliability and inventory location modeling and humanitarian logistics. He is also interested in environmental modeling, including regulation of pollution fines, marketing mix management and optimization, and predictive/ prescriptive analytics using “big data” and other tools in business decision making.
Craig Geoffrey, Academic Director, BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab
Craig Geoffrey is an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream in Finance, and the Academic Director of BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab at Rotman. He teaches courses in corporate finance, capital markets theory, financial trading strategies, derivatives, and risk management and is active with student competition teams. Craig’s interests include market microstructure, asset pricing, and behavioural finance. Prior to his teaching career, Craig spent over 10 years working as a proprietary equity trader. Craig is a CFA charterholder.
Bachir Chehab, Associate Director of the BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab
Bachir Chehab is the Associate Director of the BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab at the Rotman School of Management. He leads experiential learning initiatives, integrating research, training, and cutting-edge tools to enhance education. With over 20 years of experience spanning higher education, IT, consulting, finance, aviation, and shipping, he holds a Master’s in Information Technology Management from the University of Wollongong and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Higher Education at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).
MMA Program Information
The Master of Management Analytics (MMA) is a 11-month full-time program designed to prepare students for a career in the growing field of data-driven decision-making. The MMA will give students the key tools and knowledge to handle the complex datasets of today’s business world, and gain the experience needed to use their analysis to help businesses make better decisions. Students will have access to the latest tools, current trends and topical issues in a year-long colloquium and an integrative practicum project to tie together all the skills of a Management Analytics practitioner. The tools used during the program include: R, Python, SAS, Tableau, SQL and more.
For more information about the MMA Program, including program structure, admission information and finances please visit Master of Management Analytics | Rotman or contact mma@rotman.utoronto.ca.
Co-Curricular Record (CCR)
If you are a current University of Toronto student who participated in the Datathon, you may be eligible to claim CCR (Co-Curricular Record) recognition upon the successful completion of the competition. CCR are only applicable for current UofT students.
The Co-Curricular Record (CCR) is designed to help students find opportunities at U of T beyond the classroom and to have their skills and experiences captured on an official document. For more details about this CCR position, please email the lab at financelab@rotman.utoronto.ca.
Benefits of Co-Curricular Record (CCR) Recognition:
- Highlight and reflect on the skills you’ve gained.
- Get engaged in a variety of workshops and track your progress.
- Record your participation on an official university document.
- Connect with your CCR community, build your network, and enhance your resume.
If you are ready, to claim your CCR, CLICK HERE.
Take your career to the next level
In addition, this year, Datathon is part of a groundbreaking initiative at Rotman School of Management – The Rotman Finance Analytics and Decision-Making League (RFADML). Your registration fee will not only automatically give you an all-access pass to Rotman’s new specialized themed conferences which include topics on Finance, Machine Learning and Analytical Skills, this initiative allows you to earn qualification points for additional rewards to ultimately earn the prestigious title of international academic champions.
To know more about RFADML:
Statement on Equity, Diversity, and Excellence
Equity and Human Rights
The purposes of this statement are to express the University’s values regarding equity and diversity, and relate these to the institution’s unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission.
At the University of Toronto, we strive to be an equitable and inclusive community, rich with diversity, protecting the human rights of all persons, and based upon understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of every person. We seek to ensure to the greatest extent possible that all students and employees enjoy the opportunity to participate as they see fit in the full range of activities that the University offers, and to achieve their full potential as members of the University community.
Our support for equity is grounded in an institution-wide commitment to achieving a working, teaching, and learning environment that is free of discrimination and harassment as defined in the Ontario Human Rights Code. In striving to become an equitable community, we will also work to eliminate, reduce or mitigate the adverse effects of any barriers to full participation in University life that we find, including physical, environmental, attitudinal, communication or technological.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
Our teaching, scholarship, and other activities take place in the context of a highly diverse society. Reflecting the intersectionality in our community is uniquely valuable to Rotman, as it contributes to the diversification of thoughts, ideas, and perspectives that enrich our teaching, scholarship, and research activities. We will proactively seek to increase inclusion and feelings of belonging among our community members, with an aim to having a student body, teaching and administrative staff that mirror the diversity of qualified applicants. For more information, please click here.