The ASQ World Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, brought people from around the world together to talk about quality and change. The sessions discussed Quality 4.0, digital disruption, and continuous improvement.

Companies such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Pfizer discussed the future of quality as well as trends such as big data. The challenges can be intimidating, but it’s important to keep up.

In her keynote, Tricia Wang said, “Investing in big data is easy, but using it is hard.” However, if done correctly, she said that digital can help us make radically better decision. Wang, who describes herself as a technology ethnographer, watches people using technology and said that qualitative information behind the data can show the full picture. Her work aims to show the impact behind the numbers and the stories behind them.

For those looking for strategies to advance quality, Kathy Lyall of RTI Surgical and the ASQ Inspection Division offered a way forward. Lyall explained how to advance a culture of quality at your organization. She looked at several local companies to discuss how their organization handles quality, and provided suggestions on how to make a difference.

Next year’s ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement will be held in Columbus, OH, May 3-6.