ig data example presented at the conference—one closer to home than Madrid’s emergency response system. “Computers can sift through mountains of bank transactions,” he says, “and detect a few odd or questionable ones.” In the past, officials had to visually examine paper records to uncover fraud or the rare money laundering scheme. Today, for bankers armed with informatics programs and visualization techniques, fraudulent transactions stand out like buying unscented lotion at Target.
Supply, Demand, Skills
UNC Charlotte teaches informatics and computer science at the undergraduate and graduate level, but they are not the Queen City’s only big data educator. Northeastern University in Charlotte offers an MBA in health informatics as a hybrid program. Six MBA students currently study big data online and on the ground, says Assistant Dean of the Graduate Program in Computer Science Bryan Lackaye. Speaking about the program in Boston, Northeastern’s main campus, “We can’t graduate students fast enough for the jobs available,” says Lackaye.
UNC Charlotte’s professional science master’s degree in bioinformatics interdisciplinary program would never be confused with an MBA. It emphasizes biology, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, computing, informatics and engineering.
Given such a rigorous program, it is no wonder these multitalented graduates are in demand. “Eighty companies have come to recruit,” says Deng. “Some are hiring 20 to 30 of our grads. Others need two or three. Demand exceeds supply.” Unfortunately, cuts to UNC Charlotte’s budget are only exacerbating the supply of what has become a scarce and important human resource.
Note that there’s one key discipline missing from the UNC Charlotte’s current informatics curriculum—business. Deng and Steve Ott, dean of UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business, are taking steps to combine education in business and informatics. A new North Carolina Initiative for Data Science and Analytics (NC-DSA) is in place linking the Belk College and the College of Computing and Informatics. NC-DSA rests on three pillars: new interdisciplinary academic programs in data science, state-of-the-art training in big data for working executives and managers, and a industry-university partnership that leverages academic research for business and industry innovation.
“We are in the process of creating a professional science master’s in data science and business analytics,” explains Ott. “We hope to offer it in Charlotte in a couple of years.” A new interdisciplinary professional degree in health informatics, a partnership among the College of Computing and Informatics, the College of Health and Human Services and the University Graduate School, is already being offered this year. Together these education and training programs will produce over 200 grads each year in coming years.
Writing in the October issue of Harvard Business Review, Tom Davenport, who keynoted the May conference in Charlotte, said that currently there are no university programs offering degrees in data science. He noted that North Carolina State is “busy adding big data exercises and coursework” to its master of science in analytics, reflecting the surging demand of talents in this area.
Data science is the new discipline linking informatics and practical applications. “Its practitioners are a new breed,” writes Davenport. “They are a hybrid data hacker, analyst, communicator and trusted advisor.” They focus on the “I” in IT and the “D” in R&D. All are college educated at the bachelor’s level and beyond and conversant with social media.
Some like Andrew Pole at Target are oriented toward the retail sector where they focus on determining what customers need before they know it themselves. Others are car nuts with an eye toward monitoring engine performance, customer satisfaction, social media and shop statistics to reduce repeat repairs.
In short, data scientists will have what Davenport calls “the sexiest job of the 21st century.” He equates this new profession with the “Wall Street quants” (quantitative analysts), physicists an