Within this enormous quantity of data lie insights that could enable the business to gain a competitive edge and provide a better consumer experience, that is why many companies have now made data science a top priority.
The issue is no longer about owning the most data, but rather how to turn data into insights. This is where data scientists come in.
Data Science and Big Data – is it the same?
No. The two terms are interconnected and often mixed today. As well as overused. However, Data Science is an umbrella term, which covers Big Data, Data Analysis, as well as Methods + Algorithms. Data analytics, data analysis, and data science are broader terms and they may deal with all kinds of data, including aggregated one. Big data starts with raw unaggregated data, and is used to produce aggregated summary.
The role of a data scientist is to mine massive volumes of data and pull out main insights.
What about the data science experts tackling these issues?
The enterprise-generated data is expected to exceed 240 exabytes daily by 2020. For this reason, the specialists trained in extracting insights from data are highly demanded than ever.
For the moment, many questions are twisting around what a data scientist is. Let us hear the opinion of Mike Gualtieri, Forrester`s Principal Analyst.
For instance, the Big Data & Analytics Experts in Ciklum are already successfully uncovering new excellent business opportunities by identifying hidden patterns in data. The team rapidly sets up data analytics tools aligned with the business goals to assist clients in micro-segmenting their markets, customising products and transform raw technical data into clear information for making key decisions.
The demand for data scientists continues to grow rapidly, far outpacing the anaemic growth in supply. A McKinsey study predicts that by 2018 the number of data science jobs in the United States alone will exceed 490,000, but there will be fewer than 200,000 available data scientists to fill these positions. Globally, demand for data scientists is projected to exceed supply by more than 50 percent by 2018.
How do we shorten the gap to meet the demand of customers for data science?
This summer Ciklum is about to start The DataminDS program and share its expertise. The program includes new talents development by collaborating with online (Prometheus) and stationary (Universities, IT Schools) educational platforms, new courses, as well as internships inside the company.
In June 2016, Ciklum has supported a great initiative: the company provides two scholarships for talented students of the Masters Course with Specialization in Data Science at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU).
We have opened the doors for the 1,3-year internship in the Big Data & Analytics team for the students. Ciklum is the first company sponsoring the Master Course and this way we’ve started a long-term partnership with the Computer Science department at UCU.
Taking over the best practices…..
In Ukraine, there are other programs training analysts from non-IT industries to become data scientists. Zynga, for example, has recently started its Data Science Transition Program, which enables high-performing analysts to be apprenticed to a data scientist for 12 months. During this time they practically acquire the data science skills while taking online courses on the topic. At the end of the program, the participant becomes an Associate Data Scientist at the company.
In spring 2016, Kyivstar, the biggest telecom operator in Ukraine, has launched the Big Data School. Data science, machine learning as well as applied econometrics were covered in the course for future business analysts.
Closing the global data science talent gap won’t be easy, but it’s critical to ensure companies have the ability to make data-driven strategic decisions. If you need to clean your unstructured data or wish to take your business decisions based on robust analytics, do not hesitate to contact Ciklum.
