Your next coworker might be a robot, which puts new meaning on the concept of teamwork, morning keynote speaker Tom Davenport said April 21, 2017, at the inaugural Smith Analytics Conference in Washington, D.C. The event, hosted by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, featured industry insights from the Smith Analytics Consortium.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The global proportion of women among the planet's billionaires is still shy of 3 percent. That's a slim minority, but the proportion has tripled in the past decade. And as Forbes recently documented, 56 of these women are self-made billionaires — an increase from 42 in 2016.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – When you envision the future of autonomous delivery, do you imagine an army of drones for every supermarket and corner store, waiting to be deployed to customers' homes?

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Recent backlash against United Airlines following an incident at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport does not surprise Roland Rust, the Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Google’s mea culpa for ads appearing alongside extremist video content on YouTube has culminated in promises from the tech giant, including a measure to block ads from channels with fewer than 10,000 views and a new system in which third-party firms will verify ad quality standards.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – What could be better than free? For companies with a freemium business model – Spotify, Dropbox, Hulu and The New York Times are examples – it’s a key question. Can a company increase its number of paying customers when a free version is available? And if so, how?

Big data, business intelligence, predictive analytics, key performance indicators, risk analysis, marketing research – these buzz terms are prolific in the C-suite. At the Inaugural Smith Analytics Conference on April 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C., attendees will learn how to leverage the latest analytics best practices to help improve your company’s bottom line.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Getting admitted to the hospital means a 1-in-20 chance of contracting an infection, maybe even a potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also referred to as multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs).

Leaders from the worlds of business, nonprofit and government packed a room in the Reagan Building and International Trade Center on April 5, 2017, for a timely conversation about driving and adapting tochange. The event, hosted by the Office of Executive Programs at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, began with an “Inside the Actor Studio” style one-on-one interview. Neta Moye, a clinical professor of management, quizzed Alonso Robinson, founder and CEO of Symphonic Strategies, on dealing with transition and complexity.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – What does it mean when a pioneer of the telecommuting workforce begins to curb its work-from-home practices? For IBM, it means a massive culture shift, say experts from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. And while the tech giant might be hoping it results in a surge in innovation, it also might spark a surge of resignations.