What are the most in-demand data skills for the 2020s?
As the digital world continues to thrive, data is becoming one of the most valuable commercial resources on the planet. In 2020, globally, we created 2.5 quintillion data bytes a day, and that number is expected to rise annually. As organisations continue to expand their data assets, the need to extract meaningful information from that data is becoming increasingly important, thus the demand for data centres and individuals with data skills is growing exponentially. Therefore, now is the perfect time to explore which data skills are the most in-demand and why organisations value them so highly.
Machine Learning and AI
As artificial intelligence plays a more prominent role in our lives, the demand for skilled machine learning and AI workers has skyrocketed. Growing volumes and varieties of available data have accelerated the need for computational processing that is more efficient.
Machine learning allows organisations to quickly and automatically produce models that can analyse bigger, more complex data and deliver faster, more accurate on a grand scale. The widening data skills gaps means that companies across the globe are perpetually searching to find data professionals with machine learning and AI skills, including:
- reinforcement learning
- adversarial learning
- decision trees
- logistic regression
- supervised machine learning
The more skills that you can learn and offer, the more valuable an asset you’ll be to any forward-thinking, tech-orientated organisation.
Programming
While it is possible to be a valuable member of a data team without being an expert programmer, a data scientist needs to be very comfortable with coding.
Python is the golden standard for data scientists and is rapidly becoming the most common language in data. Its simplicity, availability of libraries and high support for deep learning make it a popular choice among tech firms, and employers are constantly searching for data scientists who are proficient in Python. However, skills in R, Julia and other languages are also desirable, therefore it is beneficial to ensure that your programming skills and knowledge are in tip-top shape.
Data visualisation
It is important to paint a clear and engaging story with data to ensure your core message is delivered to your audience. Every professional industry can benefit from having a comprehensive understanding of their data. As a result, data visualisation is expanding to all fields where data exists. Through visualisation, companies can accurately display their points and use clear information on the data for their benefit.
The ability to visualise and interpret data is essential and a trait that a variety of data employers are searching for and can help you take a huge step in your data centre career.
Data mining
Data mining is the process of identifying anomalies and patterns within a large set of data in order to accurately and efficiently predict outcomes. Organisations can use this information to increase revenues, enhance customer service, cut costs and more.
We’ve already mentioned the staggering amount of data that is produced daily, and unstructured data makes up 90% of the data universe. Data mining skills are becoming increasingly important to companies as they allow them to sift through a huge amount of data, identify how much is useful, and use that data to accelerate the pace of making informed decisions. Workers skilled in data mining are becoming more and more important and it is now an essential skill to possess in 2021.
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