Description: This article covers the importance of a system peer review within the systems change control process and offers suggestions for creating more robust controls.

Description: This article celebrates the tremendous progress that has been made in automating reinsurance data. It also looks at remaining issues, such as a lack of standardization, and challenges presented for the future.

Description: This article discusses the powerful but yet infrequently used OFFSET function in Excel.

Description: This article discusses the changes occurring in the illustrations systems market.

Description: This is a letter from the editor. This issue completes his first year as editor.

Description: Discusses creating a user-friendly [and bullet-proof] spreadsheet.

Description: This article is about the critical role of actuaries in IT projects.

Description: Article describing new and interesting computer programs.

Description: In this article, the author describes how to get data into and out of R.

Description: David Januszewski looks at the the development of open source software in statistics. By comparing the virtues between SAS, the proprietary software and R, the open source software used by statisticians, he thinks that open source software "can and does coexist with the proprietary software" and "both have a purpose. "He further looks at the availability of the open source software in the actuarial profession and does not see "open source software sweeping across actuarial science like it has with other fields". Dave explains the possible uses and virtues of the open source software to actuaries and asserts that it may be beneficial that the open source is used together with the propriety software.