After a week away from it, I finally sat down and wrote a little bit more of my article for my company’s newsletter. I still have about a week and half to complete it, and I am most of the way there.

My topic has drifted a bit from what I intended to write. I started with the intention of writing about how to execute a data call project. (A data call project is when a government organization asks private companies to send it data, which it then uses for analysis and reporting.) What I actually wrote so far is an introduction to how the insurance industry (which is the industry I worked in) extracts value from Big Data, and a call to action stating that insurance regulators should also leverage Big Data to help them regulate the industry. The whole thing will eventually serve as an introductory chapter to a much larger white paper (or is it a short book?) that I plan to complete over the course of next year.

It’s all very dry stuff, especially to those outside my field. It is important for me, though, to start writing down the things I know about at work. I think that getting published in industry journals, starting humbly with my own company’s periodic newsletter, will help me improve my profile in the industry, and is the best way for me to advance in my career and to make a difference. I know how to write clearly, which is a skill I have been undervaluing for many years. Now I plan to rely on that strength to move forward.