By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    data analytics in sports industry
    Here’s How Data Analytics In Sports Is Changing The Game
    6 Min Read
    data analytics on nursing career
    Advances in Data Analytics Are Rapidly Transforming Nursing
    8 Min Read
    data analytics reveals the benefits of MBA
    Data Analytics Technology Proves Benefits of an MBA
    9 Min Read
    data-driven image seo
    Data Analytics Helps Marketers Substantially Boost Image SEO
    8 Min Read
    construction analytics
    5 Benefits of Analytics to Manage Commercial Construction
    5 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: The Demise of the Data Scientist: Heresy or Fact?
Share
Notification Show More
Latest News
big data mac performance
Data-Driven Tips to Optimize the Speed of Macs
News
3 Ways AI Has Helped Marketers and Creative Professionals Streamline Workflows
3 Ways AI Has Helped Marketers and Creative Professionals Streamline Workflows
Artificial Intelligence
data analytics in sports industry
Here’s How Data Analytics In Sports Is Changing The Game
Big Data
data analytics on nursing career
Advances in Data Analytics Are Rapidly Transforming Nursing
Analytics
data analytics reveals the benefits of MBA
Data Analytics Technology Proves Benefits of an MBA
Analytics
Aa
SmartData Collective
Aa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Uncategorized > The Demise of the Data Scientist: Heresy or Fact?
Uncategorized

The Demise of the Data Scientist: Heresy or Fact?

RichardBoire
Last updated: 2014/09/18 at 1:00 PM
RichardBoire
5 Min Read
Image
SHARE

ImageAs an avid practitioner of data science, I purposely try to read articles that provide new learning and knowledge in this discipline or which at least tend to be controversial from my perspective. One article from an IT leader of a well-respected U.S. organization hypothesized that data scientists will in the future become like switchboard operators:obsolete.

ImageAs an avid practitioner of data science, I purposely try to read articles that provide new learning and knowledge in this discipline or which at least tend to be controversial from my perspective. One article from an IT leader of a well-respected U.S. organization hypothesized that data scientists will in the future become like switchboard operators:obsolete.

The primary reason for this declining demand according to the author  was that increased automation and operationalization of business processes will not require the technical skills of the data scientist. Obviously, my initial reaction was emotional with my first reaction being  to completely ignore this opinion but the more rational part of my nature  aroused my curiosity in not what was being said but why it was being said.   The “what is being said” does present an opinion which is based on his perspective. But it is this perspective that must be understood if we are to obtain a better sense of this viewpoint.

This perspective can be better understood by knowledge  of this individual’s background and experience. For the writer in question, the background is IT or computer science/systems development and not data science in the truest sense. The IT practitioner, here,  does have some understanding of data science but not as a true practitioner of the discipline. Both IT and the data scientists do  develop business solutions. But the types of solutions  are different. IT individuals steeped in the more  traditional computer science discipline are  trained and developed to focus their skills on developing solution that streamline business processes. In most cases, this is about operationalizing or automating a given business process.

More Read

data science and GDPR

What Do Big Data Professionals Need to Know About GDPR

The Big Data Scientist’s Skillset

Meanwhile, the data scientist focuses their efforts on developing analytics solutions that solve a specific and unique  business problem. In most cases, these data science solutions when initially built, are customized to solve the problem at hand . The need for automation or operationalization is not paramount at least initially in the data scientist’s mind.

With Big Data and big data analytics, the need for analytics and more customized type solutions is experiencing exponential growth. Methods and approaches in employing analytics need to be quicker and more flexible which require I/T support for more operationalization and automation . But this does not replace the data scientist. In fact, big data analytics reinforces the need for more and not less data scientists. The data science “work”  is really about building the right template for a given business solution. In specific terms, this could be a predictive model or a pivot table to conduct a given business analysis. Meanwhile, IT needs to create the necessary technical and systems architecture towards a more automated infrastructure. In this environment, the data scientist has the capacity to create the more automated templates for many different types of business problems. Some may question that this is the role of IT.

The answer is no as these templates are uniquely designed for each business problem, but automation or operationalization of these solutions is facilitated through the infrastructure that has been set up by IT. Architecting the data to solve the business problem is the role of the data scientist. Creating a technology environment  which allows access to data and the potential for increased automation is the role of IT.  This kind of scenario is simply going to increase the demand for both data scientists and IT in our Big Data world regardless of certain opinions on the declining importance of data science.    

TAGGED: big data scientist
RichardBoire September 18, 2014
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

big data mac performance
Data-Driven Tips to Optimize the Speed of Macs
News
3 Ways AI Has Helped Marketers and Creative Professionals Streamline Workflows
3 Ways AI Has Helped Marketers and Creative Professionals Streamline Workflows
Artificial Intelligence
data analytics in sports industry
Here’s How Data Analytics In Sports Is Changing The Game
Big Data
data analytics on nursing career
Advances in Data Analytics Are Rapidly Transforming Nursing
Analytics

Stay Connected

1.2k Followers Like
33.7k Followers Follow
222 Followers Pin

You Might also Like

data science and GDPR
Big Data

What Do Big Data Professionals Need to Know About GDPR

4 Min Read
big data scientist
AnalyticsBest PracticesBig DataBusiness IntelligenceData ManagementJobs

The Big Data Scientist’s Skillset

7 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

ai in ecommerce
Artificial Intelligence for eCommerce: A Closer Look
Artificial Intelligence
AI chatbots
AI Chatbots Can Help Retailers Convert Live Broadcast Viewers into Sales!
Chatbots

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US

© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?