What we do

The Lucid Analytics Project is an impact research firm which delivers reports, presentations, and consulting services. We focus on innovation in the domains we believe will make the most important contributions to sustainable development.

Lucid was formed in 2018 by Keyur Patel, a widely-published economics journalist and author, and Marshall Lincoln, formerly Lead Data Scientist at a publicly-listed Silicon Valley cloud communications company.

Our partnership combines skill-sets rarely found together: a proven ability to explain complex ideas in engaging and straightforward language, and a deep understanding of data science in industry.

We conduct primary research through interviews and surveys, apply statistical methodologies and data science techniques to our analysis, and make these insights accessible through incisive prose and intuitive visualisations.

Impact Research

We call what we do ‘‘impact research’ for two reasons:

We investigate how innovation can help us confront the greatest challenges facing humanity - such as achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
We transform data into lucid, incisive, and actionable insights - to drive impact through our research.

At the heart of our work is the principle that technologies are not synonymous with solutions. We believe that the greatest obstacles to tackling the world's most urgent challenges is not an inability to conceive ingenious technologies, but to create incentive structures that enable them to make a global impact. We are obsessive about how innovative ideas can be transformed into scalable business models based on a triple bottom line: financial, environmental, and social considerations.

Our values

Our reputation is built upon honest, objective, evidence-driven analysis

We stringently avoid confirmation bias. Our clients work with us not to lead the direction of our research, but because they derive value from the authority that our evidence-driven approach brings to the research.

We conduct our analysis in a similar way to impact investors. Our aim is to do good in the world. We choose the industries we explore, and the clients we work with.

Our Approach

We conduct primary research through interviews and surveys, apply statistical methodologies and data science techniques to our analysis, and make these insights accessible through incisive prose and intuitive visualisations.

Context

Comprehensive research which combines original insights, based on interveiews and surveys, with contextual understanding

Intelligent Analytics

The creative application of data science methodologies, such as predictive statistics, machine learning, and natural language processing.

Clarity

Clear and engaging writing, which narrates the evidence in lively and concise prose

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Data science

Data Science is central to our work in two ways:

Focused Research: We research and write about data science and the effect it can have on human development. Advances in the analysis and application of data are driving innovation across nearly every industry

Data Science is often poorly understood and badly misrepresented in the mainstream media. Machine learning, for example, remains a black box to nearly everybody who doesn’t actually know how to code. It is often the case that those who understand it don’t write about it - and those who write about it don’t have experience in the field.

We are both practitioners in the field and journalists with the skill set to deliver clear and lucid insights into this complex domain.

Applied Methodologies: We apply data science methodologies to uncover hidden insights, ensure our work is statistically rigorous, and to illuminate our research through data visualizations.

We're familiar with a wide range of techniques, including applied machine learning, natural language processing, statistical methodologies, and data visualization. Our experience in the field ranges from hands-on application, to the management of technical teams, to strategy and leadership in the boardroom.

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