Deloitte School of Analytics to demystify data science

Wesley Govender

"If you were to ask a hundred people what data science is – and more importantly, to state its value – you’d likely get a hundred different answers," says Wesley Govender, risk advisory Africa leader: data analytics at Deloitte. "Technological advances and the associated changes in the business landscape have produced a rapidly expanding “parallel universe” of new content, new data, new information sources and even new technologies. Data science is too important to be so elusive. So, the question is how do we define it and how do organisations quickly operationalise to take advantage of this trend?"

The demand for data analytics specialists who know how to manage information, spot patterns within it, and draw conclusions and insights, has never been higher. Big data and analytics have climbed to the top of the corporate agenda, together promising to transform the way organisations do business.

"Given the large demand for data analytics skills, experts place the talent pool supply at 20% of the actual market demand. The majority of organisations find themselves at low levels of analytic maturity and need to move from information and hindsight to optimisation and foresight to remain relevant and competitive in the future," says Govender.

The annual education event is a three-day training programme that focuses on enhancing analytics capabilities across Africa. Deloitte Analytics SMEs and TDWI lecturers will be engaging with the delegates through hands on and classroom based training, structured case study discussions, presentations and practical examples. The education journey will include modules such as practical application of machine learning and artificial intelligence, data architecting for the future and demystifying data science.

For more, go to www.deloitteschoolofanalytics.co.za.