Proceedings of Flint International Statistics Conference Kettering University, June 24–28, 2014

Abstract

This special issue of Economic Quality Control (EQC) contains selected talks presented at the Flint International Statistics Conference (FISC) held at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. This was a distinct international event for Kettering and for the institutions in Flint. More than 40 researchers gathered at FISC. Therewere participants fromSweden, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Italy,UnitedKingdom, Spain, SouthAfrica, Canada, Cyprus, Barbados, Georgia, Moldova, and USA. The title of the conference “Flint: One City, One Hundred Years under Variability” reveals its central subject: Statistical Methods and Studies of Historical Data. More speci cally, the participants discussed challenging problems in studies of multiple parallel series of historical data on various objects in the areas of public life, industrial and service development. Historical data are often comprised by huge worldwide arrays of BIG DATA and require not just speci c statistical methods for excerption of useful information and learning, but also development of speci c tools for data mining and reducing the data dimensions. Hence, to be properly addressed, many of the existing questions require collaboration between Computer Science and Statistics in data manipulations. The participants at FISC enjoyed discussions on a broad variety of topics including algorithmic and numerical data techniques, modeling using traditional analytical methodology, and applied data analysis. For the proceedings of FISC we selected a total of 23 articles classi ed in two categories: (i) Statistical Methodology, to be published in Economic Quality Control (De Gruyter). (ii) Computational Extensive Analysis, to be published in Serdica Journal of Computing (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). This Special Issue of EQC contains six of the selected eleven articles in the category Statistical Methodology. The remaining paper will appear in the next issue. All manuscripts passed the scrutiny of a peer review process. We are proud to present to the attention of the EQC audience the following papers. ∙ Urban Planning for Change: Data and Projections in City of Flint Master Plans (1920, 1960 & 2013), by D. Walling, City Mayor of Flint, Michigan. Dayne Walling, the City Mayor of Flint, was the opening keynote speaker of the conference. We could not expect better support for our conference. In his article Mayor Walling analyzes three comprehensive historical master plans in order to assess available data, make projections and propose recommendations, focusing on historical statistical methods and urban planning, particularly as it relates to spatial data. The three plans are considered in three main sections: planning for population growth (1920), planning for regional rationalization (1960), and planning for a exible future (2013). Population projections, residential density patterns, and economic and employment data are reviewed and compared against the planning recommendations and realities. We value his vision on ways how data and statistical analysis can be utilized in public decision-making and in assisting governing agencies.