Data Science in the Mainstream

As the Strata Conference[*] continues this week in New York, I’ve been following some of the early presentations via the live stream before I fly out tomorrow.

As the Strata Conference[*] continues this week in New York, I’ve been following some of the early presentations via the live stream before I fly out tomorrow. If I were to capture one theme, it’s that Data Science has emerged from academia and is definitely now part of the mainstream. It’s clear that businesses have recognized both the need to extract value from Big Data, and the associated challenges of implementation, and cultural and process change. As a result, demand for employees with analytics and data science background are in high demand:

The chart above comes from DJ Patil’s article on Building Data Science Teams (also available as a free PDF report) which well worth a read for practical advice on instituting a culture of data science with the right mix of people, technology, and processes to get value out of Big Data. You may also want to check out the white paper The Rise of Big Data Spurs a Revolution in Big Analytics, for advice on some of the statistical implications of dealing with Big Data.