SAS and RTI Partnership Combines Best in Research, Expertise and Analytics

Companies will empower government agencies with greater insights and technology

CARY and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — SAS and RTI International are partnering to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges by bringing joint offerings to government agencies and other organizations. SAS and RTI combine more than 100 years of expertise in research and analytics and will build on a long relationship of collaboration and innovation.

Complex government challenges demand a successful merger of science and technology. More and more, scientific and research services require advanced analytics like artificial intelligence and machine learning. Similarly, technology-based solutions need experience and expertise to realize their full value. By approaching opportunities together, with the best in both research and analytics, RTI and SAS can deliver better and faster results.

Two North Carolina success stories with headquarters just miles apart, RTI and SAS will primarily focus on US government agencies, where the two companies share a large footprint. RTI coordinates and conducts vital research for its customers and, for nearly 30 years, has used SAS software to analyze data and provide insights that enhance the lives of US citizens.

Through the partnership, RTI and SAS will further strengthen and improve service to clients by combining subject matter expertise, scientific rigor, advanced analytics, and technical and software products into comprehensive solutions. Combining talented people with powerful software will generate more and better data insights to meet customers’ greatest needs.

“Our companies share a commitment to improving the world through research and using data for good, and government is where our joint efforts can have the greatest impact,” said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. “Dedicated public servants, armed with reliable, evidence-based research, are more important than ever.”

SAS and RTI have worked with US government agencies for decades and will collaborate on ways to help shared customers such as the US Department of Health and Human Services, including Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control, as well as the US Department of Defense, US Department of Education and US Agency for International Development.

“RTI has made improving the human condition the mission of our Institute for 61 years,” said Dr. E. Wayne Holden, President and CEO of RTI. “This partnership will allow our two organizations to bring top experts and scientists together to provide quality, impactful research that will improve lives in North Carolina, across the country and around the world.”

Bringing the most advanced SAS^® software to RTI customers

SAS will benefit from RTI’s extensive domain expertise in myriad areas of government research and public policy, while RTI can take advantage of proven SAS product development and implementation processes. SAS is a leader in putting analytics into action, with appropriate data governance, which will lead to quicker deployments and greater benefits to customers and citizens.   

While some shared customers are already using SAS^® Viya^®, the company’s flagship AI and analytics platform, the partnership will put the technology into the hands of RTI researchers. With SAS Viya, data science is democratized, enabling everyone – data scientists, business analysts, developers and executives alike – to collaborate and realize innovative results faster. SAS Viya is a single, consolidated and cohesive environment, where RTI users can use SAS or open source software like R and Python to manipulate and explore data on a large scale, and run analytics in the cloud.