Case Study: ALMA streamlines astronomical operations and saves hundreds of hours with Dataiku

ALMA Streamlining Astronomical Operations With Analytics and AI

ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, faced the challenge of managing huge volumes of observational data, proposal reviews, and telescope operations while improving efficiency and maintaining high-quality science output. The observatory partnered with Dataiku and used its AI and analytics platform to build a stronger data governance foundation and modernize how teams handled monitoring, review, and operational workflows.

With Dataiku, ALMA implemented automated dashboards, machine learning models, and MLOps-enabled processes to monitor observations, match proposals to reviewers, and classify QA0 observations. The results included weekly monitoring that was previously infeasible, automation for 1,700 proposals, and a reduction of 82 manual QA0 assessments in three months, saving 50 hours initially with up to 120 hours projected. Overall, Dataiku helped ALMA save hundreds of hours, improve collaboration, reduce errors, and optimize telescope operations.

ALMA