Data science video

Hello, my name is Dr Rachel Hilliam and I’m a Senior Lecturer in Statistics at the Open University. 

I want to talk to you today about a qualification that we have in Data Science.

Data Science is a relatively new area, and it straddles the disciplines of applied mathematics, statistics and computing.

Society is awash with data, and in 2012 the Harvard Business Review described data as being “the new oil”.

In the 21^st century, we get data from a huge variety of sources. But it doesn’t just come in a structured format such as words and numbers, but we get data from emails and social media.

This means we can get data in the form of audio files, videos, pictures, click stream data.

It is the job of the Data Scientist to put together all of these different sources of data, and use techniques from computing, applied mathematics and statistics to be able to answer questions and problems.

Data Scientists need a huge range of skills, and therefore these are highly sought after, in-demand and well paid.

All businesses these days are looking for Data Scientists who can analyse their data to drive productivity and processes.

This is alongside online giants such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Twitter, who drive their businesses through targeted recommendations.

As well as businesses, Data Scientists are needed in the public sector in order to help with decision-making and policies. These can be in areas such as government, public health and education.

To meet this demand, people are re-training themselves as Data Scientists, or re-branding.

And in the modules, we use computing and statistical software such as R and Python to analyse real-world data problems.

This degree sits alongside our other qualifications in those disciplines, so that you can have the chance to upskill or re-train in a particular area.

So, come and see what the OU has to offer and you can join that exciting world of Data Science.

We hope to see you on one of our qualifications soon!