Jim Hoover is a clinical professor and Director of Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Center at the Warrington School of Business, University of Florida. In this episode, Jim shares some of his experiences in the US Navy where he worked in several decision-making roles and used forecasting/operation research tools for over two decades. Jim emphasises the importance of open source software development and calls for academic cooperation on building an open access platform for sharing the best forecasting practices with industry practitioners and SMEs. He also shares his thoughts on bridging the gaps between industry and academia.Jim recommends Forecasting Principles and Practices by Rob Hyndman and George Athanasopoulos as a great textbook for forecasters.