By Ranjan K Baruah
There are many emerging careers in the country for the youth and one of them is data scientist. Data science is a multi-disciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data. Data science is related to data mining and big data.
It is a ‘concept to unify statistics, data analysis, machine learning and their related methods’ in order to ‘understand and analyse actual phenomena” with data. It employs techniques and theories drawn from many fields within the context of mathematics, statistics, computer science, and information science.
Turing award winner Jim Gray imagined data science as a “fourth paradigm” of science (empirical, theoretical, computational and now data-driven) and asserted that “everything about science is changing because of the impact of information technology” and the data deluge.
In 2015, the American Statistical Association identified database management, statistics and machine learning, and distributed and parallel systems as the three emerging foundational professional communities.
Individuals who are engaged with data science are called data scientists. They gather and analyse large sets of structured and unstructured data. A data scientist’s role combines computer science, statistics, and mathematics. They analyse, process and model data then interpret the results to create actionable plans for companies and other organisations.
There is no doubt that they are systematic experts who utilise their ability in both technology and social science to find trends and manage data. They use industry knowledge, contextual understanding and similar things to uncover solutions to business challenges facing by others.
A data scientist’s work typically involves making sense of cluttered, unstructured data, from sources like smart devices, social media feeds and emails that otherwise may not fit into a database. He or she is not only technically sound but also needs to posses other qualities. They often be present in business settings and are charged with communicating complex ideas and making data-driven organisational decisions. They are analytical thinkers and good communicators too.
One may choose to study courses related to data science, mathematics, statistics, etc to become a data scientist. There are some online courses for getting ideas into the area of data science or to become data scientist. It is one of the emerging career options in the country at present. Experienced data scientists and data managers typically have more chances to earn more than freshers.
Some of the job profiles related to the same are business intelligence analyst, data mining engineer, data architect, data scientist, senior data scientist, data analyst and data engineer. This is one of the most demanded and emerging career opportunities in the country and our students may plan to become data scientists.
Data science experts are needed in almost every field, from government security to different apps and they might be engaged in government departments or even business houses and corporate.
Updates:
NEET 2020: National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for admission into under graduate courses related to medical would be conducted by NTA on May 3, 2020, in all over India. Students from science stream who aspires to study medical in the country or even abroad may appear in NEET and fill in the forms before December 31. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, has established National Testing Agency (NTA) as an independent, autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
(The author is a career mentor, skill trainer and motivational speaker and can be reached at [email protected] or 8473943734 for any career related queries)