KS&R 'ECHO Index' to Assess Quality of Synthetic Data

US-based strategic consulting and MR firm KS&R has unveiled a new 'rigorous and transparent' framework called the ECHO Index, promising to help organizations assess the 'quality, reliability and trustworthiness' of synthetic data.

Explaining the name, the firm says that 'like an echo, synthetic data must start with something real and preserve the characteristics from which it was generated.' The new Index brings together statistical and machine learning techniques to benchmark how well synthetic data performs against human response.

The initiative is headed up by Ben Cortese (pictured), Senior Vice President of KS&R's Decision Sciences & Innovation team, and was first presented in a paper at the 2026 Sawtooth Research Conference in Berlin. Cortese says the new framework is a response to difference between marketing claims for synthetic data and its realized performance. That gap, he says, 'can be widened by inconsistent validation practices, selective use of high-performing metrics, and pressure to demonstrate that synthetic data works without fully understanding where it does and does not deliver.'

'The synthetic data conversation has gotten ahead of the evidence' suggests CEO Jay Scott. 'KS&R's ECHO Index is a framework built on the same standards of rigor and accountability we've applied to research for decades. We approach new technology with a cautious optimism, ensuring the industry can actually trust it.'

Web site: www.ksrinc.com .