Data mining model building using attribute importance

A system, method, and computer program product that uses attribute importance (AI) to reduce the time and computation resources required to build data mining models, and which provides a corresponding reduction in the cost of data mining. Attribute importance (AI) involves a process of choosing a subset of the original predictive attributes by eliminating redundant, irrelevant or uninformative ones and identifying those predictor attributes that may be most helpful in making predictions. A new algorithm Predictor Variance is proposed and a method of selecting predictive attributes for a data mining model comprises the steps of receiving a dataset having a plurality of predictor attributes, for each predictor attribute, determining a predictive quality of the predictor attribute, selecting at least one predictor attribute based on the determined predictive quality of the predictor attribute, and building a data mining model including only the selected at least one predictor attribute.