One of the hottest job sectors in 2016 was data science, and it looks like that trend is set to continue.
Data science is becoming increasingly important across a number of tech industries, from fintech to consultancy.
Recent research shows that data scientist roles have seen a significant increase globally in one year.
According to the big data analytics and business intelligence observatory run by Politecnico di Milano School of Management (MIP), advances in tech have boosted data scientist roles by 57pc.
These big data advances are encouraging growth in a number of different industries, including banking, media and big pharma, as they need more data scientists to properly use the necessary tools.
The research, which surveyed 280 international data scientists, revealed a 57pc annual increase in positions allocated, as well as role availability in nearly a third of companies.
“As big data analytics grips the world of business and as companies increasingly understand the merit of using this valuable information in their decision-making processes, the role of the data scientist is increasing both in popularity and in availability,” said Alessandro Piva, director of the research observatory.
“This is one example of a job created in recent years by huge advances in our understanding of tech and our ability to interpret masses of data that often used to stagnate in unread files – or sometimes even failed to be collected.”
The research suggests that international businesses will increasingly be looking to integrate data scientist roles into their hiring strategies.
The importance of data science
Erica Titchener, head of technology and operations consulting at Alexander Mann Solutions, a global talent acquisition and management firm, believes this is good news for jobseekers in the tech industry.
“At a time when speculation around the number of jobs [that] will be replaced by robots and automation is rife, MIP’s research demonstrates how the technological revolution is, in actual fact, creating fresh demand for highly skilled professionals,” she said.
“For medium and large businesses in particular, investing in data analysis is no longer novel or luxurious – it’s business imperative. Companies [that] fail to create workforces [to] harness the potential of big data analytics face a very real risk of being left behind by their competitors as the pace of technological change advances.”
Titchener said these organisations have had access to data that was beyond the capability of humans to digest and analyse for some time now. However, with the rise of AI and machine learning, this data can now be understood and used to boost innovation, productivity and economic success.
