On behalf of Professor Spyros Makridakis, Director of the Institute For the Future (IFF) at University of Nicosia (UNIC) it is a pleasure to introduce you to the Makridakis Open Forecasting Center (MOFC) and its activities. Professor Makridakis is renowned as one of the world’s leading forecasting experts and organizer of the Makridakis Competitions.
MOFC MEMBER
Become a MOFC Member and join the world’s leading forecasting center. Gain early access to the most up-to-date and efficient forecasting methods and algorithms with direct access to some of the most respected authorities worldwide. Let’s shape the future of forecasting together!
M APPLIED FORECASTING COURSE
The M Applied Forecasting Course is a six week online course covering all types of forecasting, both time series and regression, offering concrete insights on how to improve accuracy of predictions, estimate uncertainty realistically and consider implications to risk. No previous statistical knowledge is required to follow this course.
The most important advantage of the course is its emphasis on hands-on learning by persuading participants to use actual data to both predict and estimate the uncertainty of their forecasts and its implication to risk. This course will offer students the opportunity to harness 40 years of Professor Makridakis’ knowledge and experience and master forecasting, in six weeks. In addition, Nassim Nicholas Taleb will discuss fat-tails and their implications to uncertainty and risk while Dr. Vangelis Spiliotis will present popular forecasting software and how they can be used. There will also coverage of topics such as Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), Cross Learning (CL) and forecasting for intermittent demand.
M5 COMPETITION
The M5 Competition is the latest of the M Competitions (March 2 to 30 June 2020). The competition will use actual/authentic data made generously available by Walmart and will be implemented using Kaggle’s Platform. Given the large number of companies that have already shown interest in participating and the substantial $100,000 prize money, we estimate that the M5 Competition will attract more than 2,000 participants and teams to compete as well as a number of invited companies.
M5 CONFERENCE
Following the M5 Competition, the M5 Conference will present and analyze the findings of the most accurate winning forecasting methods as well as suggest how what has been learned from the competition can be implemented into future forecasting methods.
M5 PUBLICATION
Similar to the M4 Publication that includes 35 papers covering all aspects of the M4 Competition and Conference, there will be a special issue devoted to the M5 Competition & Conference, focusing on how what has been learned can be integrated and applied in practice, published in the International Journal of Forecasting. Practitioners will be invited to submit their articles, comments and suggestions on how future competitions can be improved.
For more information:
Nick Assimenos
Manager, Institutional & Corporate Partnerships
Institute For the Future (IFF) at University of Nicosia (UNIC)