Innovative models to advance data mining in Europe
A well-defined data mining method for deficient data does not yet exist. Grey systems, a theory that tackles the problems of uncertainty and missing information, offers hope for such data sets. Europe would do well to follow the Chinese example, where grey systems theory has been successfully applied. The EU-funded GS-A-DM-DS (Grey systems and its application to data mining and decision support) project proposed a new prediction and decision-making model to provide more reliable results in complex situations. The GS-A-DM-DS team formulated a set of criteria for grey model selection and calibration following systematic research. This will assist in making grey prediction and forecasting easily accessible to new users who have no prior knowledge in grey systems. The criteria will also help to promote the application of grey systems to data mining in Europe. Project partners developed several grey models for more accurate and reliable prediction and forecasting with small data and poor information. These will contribute to data mining operations that require high speed and reliability while reducing data requirements. Researchers also developed decision-making models that were validated by simulation and real application case studies. Performance was superior to existing alternatives. These models will enable more realistic and reliable decision-making, and make the uncertainty representation more accessible for ordinary users. Over 30 research papers were presented in leading international academic journals and conferences. Significantly, the GS-A-DM-DS project fellow was selected as one of the 10 shortlisted promising scientists in the category ‘Communicating Science’ of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions 2017 Prizes. In addition, more than 10 visits, seminars and training courses were carried out in China and Europe. As a result, an international association on grey systems and uncertainty analysis was established comprising members from China, Europe and North America. GS-A-DM-DS demonstrated the feasibility of grey systems in data mining and its great potential in limited and poor data. This should have a significant impact on the development of grey systems and data mining in Europe.
Keywords
Data mining, grey systems, GS-A-DM-DS, decision support
