Shannon Flynn

CCNA vs. CCNP vs. CCIE Security Certification

/in , , /by

As more companies turn to cloud-based software and other advanced solutions, demand for expert IT professionals in the field increases. One popular vendor, Cisco Systems, Inc., makes underlying software and hardware businesses will use for their networks.

If you’re interested in pursuing a career in the data security industry, you may want to consider earning a Cisco security certification. However, there are many types of certificates available, and each one will deliver unique benefits to you and your job marketability.

Learn more about Cisco certifications and learn the difference between CCNA, CCNP and CCIE certifications to help you choose which path is right for you.

Why Earn Cisco Certifications?

The main reason why Cisco provides these security certifications is so IT professionals can fine-tune their skills and build upon their knowledge. When IT professionals earn a Cisco certification, they can use Cisco products and services more easily, help guide customers and troubleshoot customer problems.

A future employer may perceive candidates with certifications as more qualified, productive and someone with a “go-getter” attitude. According to Cisco’s website, 81% of employers associate certifications holders with higher quality and value of work contribution.

However, it’s important to research the various Cisco certifications to learn which ones are most suitable for you and what job you’re interested in. For example, Cisco offers different levels of certifications, ranging from entry-level to expert.

Below are three certifications from Cisco that may be a good fit for you.

CCNA — Cisco Certified Network Associate

A CCNA certification is highly sought after. This certification demonstrates a professional’s ability to install, configure, operate and troubleshoot networks, both routed and switched. No prerequisites are necessary for the CCNA certification. It’s considered an associate-level certification and is available in a few prominent areas, including:

  • Cloud
  • Collaboration
  • Industrial/IoT
  • Security
  • Routing and Switching
  • Service Provider
  • Wireless

One challenge in the data industry is the increased reliance on cloud environments. Using only one cloud provider is a business risk some companies are concerned about. Uptime Institute cites the concentration risk of cloud computing as a major challenge for data centers in 2022.

Earning a CCNA cloud certification may help you get hired for an entry-level position at a company and allow you to support a senior cloud engineer.

Common jobs that you can earn with a CCNA are an IT network engineer, associate networking engineer, network system administrator and cloud architecture and security professional.

CCNP — Cisco Certified Network Professional

The Cisco CCNP certification is a more advanced professional-level certification than the CCNA certification. With the CCNP, you should be able to implement higher-level networking solutions for a company. It will cover the fundamentals of LAN and WAN infrastructures. Here are some of the different areas you can earn a CCNP in:

  • Enterprise
  • Security
  • Service Provider
  • Collaboration
  • Data Center

You must pass some core exams before earning the CCNP certification. Someone looking for the CCNP certification must also qualify for Cisco’s IP switched network and IP routing technologies. This will help determine the candidate’s readiness for the CCNP certification.

Some jobs you may get with a CCNP certification are senior security/network engineer, network architecture, network manager and troubleshooting assistant.

CCIE — Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert

IT professionals who’ve secured the knowledge and technical skills to design, implement and configure security for Cisco solutions and IT resources would be ready to earn the CCIE certification. According to Cisco, an expert-level certification is accepted worldwide as the most prestigious certification in the tech industry. Here are some of the CCIE certifications:

  • Enterprise Infrastructure
  • Collaboration
  • Enterprise Wireless
  • Data Center
  • Security
  • Service Provider

CCIE certifications can open up a range of job opportunities, but it’s a challenging certification to earn. Earning a CCIE means that your end-to-end IT lifecycle skills are valid. You know exactly what you’re talking about regarding networking, LAN/WAN, IPv4 and IPv6 protocols, switches and routers, general information and installation and configuration of various network types.

Jobs you can earn with a CCIE certificate include network security architect, network security specialist, infrastructure consulting practitioner and cloud engineer/architect.

Where to Earn Cisco Certifications

Because Cisco certifications are in such high demand and can open up job opportunities, you may want to know how you can earn them. You earn certificates directly from Cisco’s website. Under Cisco’s Learn tab, there’s plenty of information about certifications, training, events, webinars, support and other services.

There are many online training programs that you can complete to help you prepare for the Cisco certification exams. Here are some websites that offer programs you may want to explore based on the certification you’d like to earn:

For CCNA

  • Udemy
  • ICOHS College
  • Pluralsight
  • Cybrary

For CCNP

  • Udemy
  • INE
  • Global Knowledge
  • Varsity Tutors

For CCIE

  • Udemy
  • Skillshare
  • PluralSight
  • Network Lessons
  • Koenig solutions

These examples are only a few, as other online training programs and resources can set you up for success.

Additionally, Cisco offers several resources on its website to help individuals prepare for certification exams. These include guided study groups and a free Cisco Networking Academy program.

Earning Cisco Certifications

Because many companies, especially large ones, will use Cisco products for their technology infrastructure. Potential IT candidates who list certifications on their resume or job application will have a competitive advantage in the hiring process.

Depending on your current skill level and knowledge, you should be able to determine which Cisco certification is right for you. Cisco’s website has extensive information on each certificate and what topics you’ll learn about. Consider earning a Cisco certification, whether it’s CCNA vs. CCNP vs. CCIE, to bolster your skills and improve your marketability.

Akash Tripathi

10 Best Resources To Learn Data Science Online in 2022

/in , , , /by

Today, data science is more than a buzzword. To simply put it, data science is an interdisciplinary field of gathering data from various sources and channels such as databases, analysing and transforming them into visualization and graphs. This basically facilitates the readability and understanding of the data to aid in soft-skills like insightful decision-making for any organization or business. In short, data science is a combination of incorporating scientific methods, different technologies, algorithms, and more when it comes to data.

Apart from the certified courses, as a data scientist, it is expected to have experience in various domains of computer science, including knowledge of a few programming languages such as Python and R as well as statistics and mathematics. An individual should be able to comprehend the data provided and be able to transform it into graphs which help in extracting insight for a particular business.

Best Resources To Learn Data Science

For those pursuing a career in data science, it is not just technical skills that matter, in business settings an individual is tasked with communicating complex ideas and making data-driven insightful decisions. As a result, people in the field of data science are expected to be effective communicators, leaders, and team members as well as high-level analytical thinkers too.

If we talk about applications of data science, it is used in myriad fields, including image and speech recognition, the gaming world, logistics and supply chain, healthcare, and risk detection, among others. It remains a limitless world indeed. Data scientists will continue to remain in high demand, while at the same time there is a substantial skill gap that needs to be currently addressed in the industry.

Here’s the lowdown on a few of the online resources—in no particular order—which can be checked out to learn data science. While a few of these educational platforms have been launched a couple of years ago, they would continue to hold equal relevance when it comes to resources for seeking in-depth knowledge related to everything in the field of data science.

1. Udemy

Udemy is a site that offers hands-on exercises while extending comprehensive data courses. At last count, there were about 10,000 data courses and almost 500 of which are free of cost. An individual can discover specialisations, including Python, Tableau, R, and many more. While offering real-world examples, Udemy courses are quite well-defined when it comes to specific topics.
The courses are suitable for beginners as well as experts in the field of data science.

2. Coursera

Coursera is another online learning platform that offers massive open online courses (MOOC), specialisations, and degrees in a range of subjects, and this includes data science as well. Some of the courses hosted on the platform include top-notch names such as Harvard University, University of Toronto, Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan, and MITx, among others. Coursera courses can be audited for free and certificates can be obtained by paying the mentioned amount. The courses from Coursera are part of a particular specialisation, which is a micro-credential offered by Coursera. These specialisations also include a capstone project.

3. Pluralsight

Pluralsight remains an educational platform for learners through insights from instructor-led courses or online courses, which lay stress on basics and some straightforward scenarios. Courses taken online will require you to exert more effort to gain detailed insights, thus helping you in the longer run. Pluralsight introduces one to several video training courses for Software developers and IT administrators.

By using the service of Pluralsight, an individual can look forward to learning a lot of solutions. An individual can even get the key business objectives and even close the skill gaps in critical areas like cloud, design, security, and mobile data.

4. FlowingData

The website, which is produced by Dr. Nathan Yau, Ph.D., offers insights from experts about how to present, analyse, and understand data. This comes with practical guides to illustrate the points with real-time examples. In addition, the site also offers book recommendations, as well as provides insights related to the field of data science.
There are also articles which an individual can browse related to gaining more in-depth insight into the correlation between data science and the world around.

5. edX

edX is an online platform, which has been created as a tie-up between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This website has been designed with the idea to highlight courses in a wide range of disciplines and deliver them to a larger audience across the world. edX extends courses that are offered by 140 top-notch universities at free or nominal charges to make learning easy. The website includes at least 3,000 courses and has programs available for learners to excel in the field of data science.

6. Kaggle

Kaggle is an online learning platform that would be quite beneficial for individuals who already have some knowledge related to data science. In addition, most of the micro-courses require the users to have some prior knowledge in data science languages such as Python or R and machine learning. It remains an ideal site for upgrading skills and enhancing the capabilities in the field of data science. It offers extensive insights related to the field from experts.

7. GitHub

GitHub remains a renowned platform that uses Git, which is a DevOps tool used for source code management, to apply version control to a code. With over 40 million developers on its users list, it also opens up a lot of opportunities for data scientists to collaborate and manage projects together, besides gaining insights about the industry that continues to remain high in demand at the moment.

 

 

8. Reddit

This is a platform that comprises sub-forums, or subreddits, each focused on a subject matter of interest. Under this, the R/datascience subreddit has been titled the data science community, which remains one of the larger subreddit pages related to data science. Various data science professionals discuss relevant topics in data science. The data science subreddit remains insightful for individuals seeking a community that can provide related technical advice in the field of data science.

9. Udacity

Udacity Data Science Nanodegree remains an ideal certification program for those who remain well-versed with languages such as Python, SQL, machine learning, and statistics. In terms of content, Udacity Data Science Nanodegree remains quite advanced and introduces hands-on practice in the form of real-world projects. While Udacity doesn’t offer an all-inclusive course, it introduces separate courses for becoming an expert in the field of data science. Professionals who aspire to become data scientists are advised to take Udacity’s three courses namely Intro to Data Analysis, Introduction to Inferential Statistics, and Data Scientist Nanodegree. These three courses extend real-world projects, which are provided by industry experts. In addition, technical mentor support, flexible learning program, and personal career coach and career services are also offered to aspirants in the domain.

10. KDnuggets

KDnuggets remains a resourceful site on business analytics, big data, data mining, data science, and machine learning. The site is edited by Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro, a co-founder of Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Conferences. KDnuggets boasts of more than 4,00,000 unique visitors and has about 1,90,000 subscribers. The site also provides information related to tutorials, certificates, webinars, courses, education, and curated news, among others.

 

Ending Note

Increasing technology and big data mean that organizations must leverage their data in order to deliver more powerful products and services to the world by analyzing that data and gaining insight, which is what the term “Data Science” means. You can jumpstart your career in Data Science by utilizing any of the resources listed above. Make sure you have the right resources and certifications. Now is the time to work in the data industry.

 

Image Source: Pexels
Luke Smith

7 Ways To Advance Your Data Science Knowledge and Expertise

/in , /by

Image Source: Pexels

As a data scientist, your knowledge and expertise are what powers industries. Businesses of all sectors of the economy now rely on data to inform their business processes. As many as 53% of companies have already adopted big data analytics, highlighting the upward trend in data science within the private sector.

Businesses rely on data scientists to stay competitive facing in this market. But how can you advance your data science knowledge and expertise to bring the most value to your work?

These seven strategies will help you build your resources and improve your opportunities to grow.

1. Recognize the Need for Growth

It may seem disheartening at first to realize that there is no end to the progress you can make in honing your data science skills. There is simply too much to master in just a few years. However, what this really means is that there is no end to the progress and advancement you can make as a data scientist.

Consider the breadth of what there is to know. Skills to master include probability, new programming languages, data visualization, data intuition, and so much more. Recognize the scope of your field to open the door to learning opportunities in data science.

2. Brush Up on the Latest Trends

Your opportunities as a data scientist are largely dependent on how well you can utilize new software and data analytics trends. Modern data analytics relies on artificial intelligence and machine learning processes to drive insights with unprecedented detail. Meanwhile, data communication and storage platforms like blockchain are emerging to supplement data management infrastructures.

An awareness of these modern developments paired with basic general knowledge and qualifications will be key to getting hired as a data scientist in 2021 and beyond. As companies across industries look to pivot to new tech and competitive data strategies, it is more important than ever to keep abreast of the latest data science trends.

3. Enroll in Data Science Bootcamps

Data science is a constantly changing field, driven by technological innovation. At the same time, the breadth of opportunities that exist in a tech field invite career flexibility. Data scientists can make the most of these advancement and flexibility opportunities by enrolling in boot camps and training courses designed to fill in skills gaps.

These programs cover a range of topics within the field of data science. No matter your level of expertise and education, engaging in supplemental training can help you advance your expertise and bring value-building benefits to your role as a data scientist.

4. Look for Guidance Online

Because of the increasingly virtual nature of all kinds of work and education, opportunities for data science growth may be better sought out online. There are many ways you can go about increasing your data science expertise on a virtual platform. From finding a mentor through social media like LinkedIn to participating in training courses crafted by other data science professionals, you can expand your knowledge base.

First, however, ensure that you have a productive workspace at home that will allow you to learn and grow while staying motivated. This means setting up a home office to accommodate the virtual shift, complete with a comfortable chair and desk set up to avoid neck strain and health problems.

With virtual guidance in a productive environment, you can advance your expertise to secure the value of your position.

5. Expand Your Horizons

Data science is a multifaceted arena. The role of a data scientist typically consists of harnessing and categorizing raw data to draw out useful and predictive insights. Meanwhile, other positions in analytics and IT lend to more powerful data results.

Customer analytics, for example, is another subset of data science that involves harnessing information to describe and predict customer journeys. This entails focusing on customer demographics and behaviors to assemble more carefully targeted buyer personas, which can then be used to increase customer engagement and conversion rates.

Through broadening your data skills to account for areas like customer analytics, you can advance your professional opportunities.

6. Let Your Passions Inspire You

Every data scientist has a reason they got into their field. Your passions and inspirations can inform new avenues of exploration into the many designations surrounding data science. For example, big data analysts, machine learning specialists, and data visualization experts all play vital roles in modern business.

Finding your niche and specialization can come down to what drove you into data science in the first place. Perhaps you have a talent for creating comprehensive visuals that expertly summarize the point you want to be taken from your graphic. Alternatively, diving deep into the ins and outs of algorithmic functions may be what inspires you most.

Explore your passions and commit to a lifetime of learning and growing.

7. Never Stop Improving

With rapid technological change, data scientists must maintain their awareness of new systems and processes at all times. Innovations in AI, for example, have created a skills gap in the market. Eighty percent of business leaders say that lack of talent is the biggest obstacle in AI implementation.

For data scientists, closing this skills gap can be a simple matter of improving your technological training over time. Learning how machine learning functions, for example, can assist in your application of this tech to increase the value you add to your business.

Never stop improving through new courses and credentials that explore changing technology and how these changes affect the world of data science. With a commitment to lifelong learning, your skills as a data scientist will never go out of vogue.

These seven strategies can help you formulate a plan to expand your expertise into new territory, leading to new opportunities and a lucrative financial future.

Benjamin Aunkofer

Data Security for Data Scientists & Co. – Infographic

/in , , , , , /by

Data becomes information and information becomes knowledge. For this reason, companies are nowadays also evaluated with regard to their data and their data quality. Furthermore, data is also the material that is needed for management decisions and artificial intelligence. For this reason, IT Security is very important and special consulting and auditing companies offer their own services specifically for the security of IT systems.

However, every Data Scientist, Data Analyst and Data Engineer rarely only works with open data, but rather intensively with customer data. Therefore, every expert for the storage and analysis of data should at least have a basic knowledge of Data Security and work according to certain principles in order to guarantee the security of the data and the legality of the data processing.

There are a number of rules and principles for data security that must be observed. Some of them – in our opinion the most important ones – we from DATANOMIQ have summarized in an infographic for Data Scientists, Data Analysts and Data Engineers. You can download the infographic here: DataSecurity_Infographic

Data Security for Data Scientists, Data Analysts and Data Engineers

Data Security for Data Scientists, Data Analysts and Data Engineers

Download Infographic as PDF

Infographic - Data Security for Data Scientists, Data Analysts and Data Engineers

Infographic – Data Security for Data Scientists, Data Analysts and Data Engineers

Editorial Staff

Role of Data Science in Education

/in , /by

Ad / Sponsored Post

Data science is a new science that appeared thanks to a lot of reasons. The first reason is that nowadays, we have enough capacity to gather data and later work with it. The second reason is that society accumulates a lot of information every minute, and gadgets can save and then send it to data centers without any communication between people. But saving data is just one step in the world of science. The main task is how to analyze and show the results and later make a conclusion and prognoses. A team of online essay experts from a professional academic writing company SmartWritingService.com say that requests for academic papers for data science research topics increase extremely. It happens because data science analysts’ knowledge is useful in a lot of spheres, and the demand for such specialists is very high. Data science is an important part of sociology, political forecasting, the theory of games, statistics and others. Students need to study it and use it for future research. That’s why the universities added the courses of big data to be modern and meet requirements. Let’s try to discover the role of data science in education to make your own conclusion about its importance.

Why is data science necessary and how to become good in it?

The improvement of the studying process.

All students are different. They use different skills for studying and perceive information differently according to a lot of nuances. For some of them, the best way of getting information from lectors is listening without interruption. Other students prefer discussion during lectures. Some prefer to make notes. Others like to listen carefully and make notes later using the audio version of the lecture. Every group is different but has the same goal, and this goal is to absorb as much information as possible. The best assistant for this goal is data science that will show the teacher the best ways of communicating with students.

Using big data for personal needs. 

Have you ever thought that every one of us is a data scientist? We all use data, analyze it, and act according to conclusions. For example, shopping. Every time you go to the grocery, you notice how many people are there and how long the line is. When you plan your next shopping, you make a prognosis according to that data — the time you need to spend in the market and make a decision if it is optimal to go right now or it is better to visit the shop later when it is almost empty. The same thing works when we talk about studying. According to your observation and experience (that are both data), you make a conclusion on how much time you need to spend on every task.

Learning data science as an additional course. 

To know data science as an additional profession nowadays is very helpful. For the employer, it will be a bonus that can be a decisive factor. The skill to analyze is essential for every profession and helps to understand the market now and necessary for sales. The hardest thing for a data scientist is to ask the right questions for collecting data, and if you are good at it, your salary will increase immensely.

How to become a data science specialist?

Big data and artificial intelligence (AI). The importance of development. We believe that AI is the future of studying. First of all, the machine can collect the information and repeat it as much as the student needs. It is studying with the group, and the quality of communication grows rapidly. The base for machine learning in AI is data science. The analysis of data gives the set of possible reactions and actions to AI that can be changed or improved according to new data that was processed by AI. But from the beginning, AI is a huge set of data. It consists of reactions to life situations, speed and timbre of the voice of the interlocutor, country, the hour of the day, and a lot of other data that finally lead to the reaction of AI to the situation. The development of AI is a question of time, and it will help us to move faster in all spheres of life.

Can we ignore data analytics and don’t take a part in it?

The only way to ignore data science is to throw away all gadgets and become citizens of the wood cabin. And even this step won’t help. Those interested in the amount of population of people who live in the woods will be happy to add you to their list and analyze your +1 using data science technology. Every time you buy bread or don’t buy something on the internet, you are counted. Later they will analyze why you became or not their customer and save for statistics you age, sex, country of request, and all other parameters they can catch. We can only accept this reality and try to use it to our needs.

Don’t be afraid to become a subject for data science. It doesn’t affect your privacy a lot because there are billions of us, and we are only one point for statistics. Thanks to such analytics, scientists can make better specific offers and content for you. On the one hand, it is a kind of manipulation, but it saves time and resources for research from another hand. Use it to make your life more comfortable but remember that there are no coincidences when we talk about data.

Ad / Sponsored Post

Bharani Kumar

Data Science – A Beautiful Data Driven Journey

/in , /by

Data Science is a profession related to processing algorithms and extracting deep insights from raw data. It depicts the importance of data and how it can be used in business and to make IT strategies. For recognizing the new ventures available in the market, identifying the patterns and to make better business decisions, data science is of utmost significance.  It is the duty of data scientists to convert raw data into relevant business information. They hold a center stage in developing the data products by carrying out experiments, analyzing them by using scientific methods and using their skill set. Spotting the growing trends and capitalizing on it before the competition to gain advantage.

TRAITS REQUIRED FOR DATA SCIENCE:

Data Scientists are not born intellectuals; they continuously work to gain all the skills expected by the companies as the demand surpasses the supply of applicants. Here are a few skills of data scientists:

  • Curiosity and Intuition to identify the hidden meaning of data and able to visualize.
  • Need to have leadership skills and have a business savvy mind to identify risks and opportunities.
  • A bachelor’s degree in math, IT, statistics along with a letter of recommendation which will help in knowing your acquired range of knowledge.
  • Specialized skills in machine learning, clustering and segmentation, exploration of data, Statistical research which helps in finances and increasing the profits of companies including modeling.
  • Familiarity and strong hold with programming languages such as hadoop, python, perl, R, etc.

BENEFITS OF DATA SCIENCE:

There are many advantages depending on the aim and interest of the company. Sales and Marketing departments, for example collect information from a particular industry and determine which products interest the customer the most and recommend for their production, be it online shopping goods, some online series or which shipment companies are best. They also help in detection of bank fraud. Data Science currently is a raging industry with well paid professionals. The amount of knowledge acquired through this course makes it a bonus for a better and lucrative career.

APPLICATIONS OF DATA SCIENCE:

Data Science has become a significant field in almost all sectors ranging from healthcare, internet searches, e-commerce sites, cell phones by increasing the features. By making use of statistical measures they predict the future events and try to avoid them by giving optimal solutions. Speech recognition has made it easy to search information or do stuff without typing the best eg being google voice, siri. learn data science training in hyderabad

ROLES OF DATA SCIENTIST IN THE INDUSTRY:

This course is a boon for aspirants who wish to build a career in: Data Science, Machine Learning, Data Visualization, Business Intelligence, Big data, etc. This course is a combination of knowledge and money providing both these aspects in abundant measure. There are many boot camps and courses that provide certifications and provide you with the skills. A data scientist must have enough business domain expertise to analyze the risks, profits and achieve the department goals.

RESOURCE BOX:

Data Science is an amazing course enriching your education bank..If you are thinking how to learn data science then some of the best online data science courses are available to give a start to your incredible journey filled with incredible knowledge learning experience.

Click here for more about the data science course in Bangalore.

Image Source: Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/photos/classroom-school-education-learning-2093744/)
Luke Smith

The Data Surrounding Higher Education and COVID-19

/in , , /by

Just a few short weeks ago, it would have seemed impossible for some microscopic pathogen to upend our lives as we knew it, but the novel Coronavirus has proven us breathtakingly wrong.

It has suddenly and unexpectedly changed everything we had thought was most stable and predictable in our lives, from the ways that we work to the ways we interact with one another. It’s even changed the way we learn, as colleges and universities across the nation shutter their doors.

But what is the real impact of COVID-19 on higher education? How are college students really faring in the face of the pandemic, and what can we do to support them now and in the post-pandemic life to come?

The Scramble is On

Probably the most significant challenge that schools, educators, and students alike are facing is that no one really saw this coming, so now we’re trying to figure out how to protect students’ education while also protecting their physical health. We’re having to make decisions that impact millions of students and faculty and do that with no preparation whatsoever.

To make matters worse, faculties are having to convert their classes to a forum the majority have never even used before. Before the lockdown, more than 70% of faculty in higher education had zero experience with online teaching. Now they’re being asked to convert their entire semester’s course schedule from an in-class to an online format, and they’re having to do it in a matter of weeks if not days.

For students who’ve never taken a distance learning course before, these impromptu, online, cobbled-together courses are hardly the recipe for academic success. The challenge is even greater for lab-based courses, where content mastery depends on hands-on work and laboratory applications. To solve this problem, some of the newly-minted distance ed instructors are turning to online lab simulations to help students make do until the real thing is open to them again.

Making Do

It’s not just the schools and the faculty that have been caught off guard by the sudden need to learn while under lockdown. Students are also having to hustle to make sure they have the technology they need to move their college experience online. Unfortunately, for many students, that’s not always easy, and for some, it’s downright impossible.

Studies show that large swaths of the student population: first-generation college students, community college students, immigrants, and lower-income students, typically rely on on-campus facilities to access the technology they need to do their work. When physical campuses close and the community libraries and hotspots with them, so too does the chance for many students to take their learning online.

Students in urban environments face particular risks. Even if they are able to access the technology they need to engage in distance learning, they may find it impossible to socially isolate. The need to access a hotspot or wi-fi connection might put them in unsafe proximity to other students, not to mention the millions of workers now forced to telecommute.

The Good News

America’s millions of new online learners and teachers may have a tough row to hoe, but the news isn’t all bad. Online education is by no means a new thing. By 2017, nearly 7 million students were enrolled in at least one distance education course according to a recent survey by the National Center for Education Statistics.

It isn’t as though the technology to provide a secure, user-friendly learning experience doesn’t exist. The financial industry, for example, has played a leading role in developing private, responsive, and highly-customizable technology solutions to meet practically any need a client or stakeholder may have.

The solutions used for the financial sector can be built on and modified for the online learning experience to ensure the privacy of students, educators, and institutions while providing real-time access to learning tools and content to classmates and teachers.

A New Path?

As challenging as it may be, transitioning to online learning not only offers opportunities for the present, but it may well open up new paths for the future. While our world may finally be approaching the downward slope of the curve and while we may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, until there’s a vaccine, we haven’t likely seen the last of COVID-19.

And even when we lay the COVID beast to rest, infectious disease, unfortunately, is a fact of human life. For students just starting to think about their career paths, this lockdown may well be the push they need to find a career that’s well-suited to this “new normal.”

For instance, careers in data science transition perfectly from onsite to at-home work, and as epidemiological superheroes like Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx have shown, they are often involved in important, life-saving work. These are also careers that can be pursued largely, if not exclusively, online. Whether you’re a complete newbie or a veteran to the field, there is a large range of degree and certification programs available online to launch or advance your data science career.

It might be that your college-with-corona experience is pointing your life in a different direction, toward education rather than data science. With a doctorate in education, your future career path is virtually unlimited. You might find yourself teaching, researching, leading universities or developing education policy.

What matters most is that with an EdD, you can make a difference in the lives of students and teachers, just as your teachers and administrators are making a difference in your life. You can be the guiding and comforting force for students in a time of crisis and you can use your experiences today to pay it forward tomorrow.

Michael Lyamm

Optimize AI Talent: Perception from Across the Globe

/in , , , , /by

Despite the AI hype, the AI skill gap is turning into some pariah while businesses are accelerating to become demigods.

Reports from the “Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2020” cover multiple parameters both national and organizational to generate insight for further action. This report compiles 70 variables including 132 national economies across the globe – based on all groups of income and at every developmental level.

The sole purpose of the GTCI report is to narrow down the skill gap by delivering the right data inputs. The figures mentioned in the report could be of value to private and public organizations.

GTCI report covered multiple themes that need to be addressed: –

As the race to embrace AI spurs, it is evident to address the challenges faced due to AI and how best these problems can be solved.

The pace at which AI is developing is transforming the way we work, forcing a technology shift, change in the corporate structure, changing the innovation system for AI professionals in every possible way.

There’s more that is needed to be done as AI and automation continue to affect the way we work.

  • Reskilling in workplaces to eliminate dearth of talent

As the role in AI keeps evolving, organizations need a larger workforce, especially to play technology roles such as AI engineers and AI specialists. Looking closely at the statistics you may not fail to notice that the number of AI job roles is on the rise, but there’s scarce talent.

Employers must take on reskilling as a critical measure. Else how will the technology market keep up with changing trends? Reskilling in the form of training or AI certifications should be emphasized. Having an in-house AI talent is an added advantage to the company.

  • Skill gap between growing countries (low performing and high performing) are widening

Based on the GTCI report, it is seen there is a skill gap happening not only across industries but between nations. The report also highlights which country lacks basic digital skills, and this highly gets contributed toward a digital divide between nations.

  • High-level of cooperation needed to embrace AI benefits

As much as the world shows concern toward embracing AI, not much has been done to achieve these transformations. And AI has huge potential to transform society and make it a better place to live. However, to embrace these benefits, corporations must engage in AI regulation.

From a talent acquisition perspective, this simply means employers will need more training and reskilling opportunities.

  • AI to allow nations to skip generations

On a technological front, AI makes it possible to skip generations in developed nations. Although, not common due to structural obstruction.

  • Cities are now competing to become talent magnets and AI hubs

As AI continues to hit the market, organizations are aggressively coming up with newer policies to attract and retain AI professionals.

No doubt, cities are striving to attract the right kind of talent as competition keeps increasing. As such many cities are competing in becoming core AI engines in transforming energy grids, transportation, and many other multiple segments. Cities are now becoming the main test beds for AI-based tools i.e. self-driven vehicles, tele-surveillance, and facial recognition.

  • Sustainable AI comes when the society is equally up for it

With certain communities not adopting and accepting the advent of AI, it is difficult to say whether these communities will not try to distort AI narratives. As a result, it is crucial for multiple stakeholders to embrace AI and developed the AI workforce in parallel.

Not to forget, regulators and policy-makers have an equal role to play to ensure there’s a smooth transition in jobs. As AI-induced transformation skyrockets, educators and leaders need to move quickly as the new generations’ complete focus is entirely based on doing their bit to the society.

Two decades passed ever since McKinsey declared the war for talent – particularly for high-performing employees. As organizations are extensively looking to hire the right talent, it is imperative to retain and attract talent at large.

Despite the unprecedented growth in AI technologies, it is near to being unanimous regarding having hold of organizations to master in AI, forget about retaining talent. They’re not even getting better at it.

Even top tech companies such as Google and Amazon, the demand for top talent outstrips the supply. Although you may find thousands of candidates applying for the same job role, the competition just gets tougher since such employers are tough nuts and pleasing them is not an easy task.

If these tech giants are finding it difficult to hire the right talent, you could imagine the plight of other companies.

Given the optimistic view regarding the technology future, it is much more challenging to convince that the war for talent truly resembles the war on talent.

The good news is organizations that look forward to adopting new technology and reskill their employees will most likely thrive in the competitive edge.

Abhyank Srinet

Top 7 MBA Programs to Target for Business Analytics 

/in , , , /by

Business Analytics refers to the science of collecting, analysing, sorting, processing and compiling various available data pertaining to different areas and facets of business. It also includes studying and scrutinising the information for useful and deep insights into the functioning of a business which can be used smartly for making important business-related decisions and changes to the existing system of operations. This is especially helpful in identifying all loopholes and correcting them.

The job of a business analyst is spread across every domain and industry. It is one of the highest paying jobs in the present world due to the sheer shortage of people with great analytical minds and abilities. According to a report published by Ernst & Young in 2019, there is a 50% rise in how firms and enterprises use analytics to drive decision making at a broad level. Another reason behind the high demand is the fact that nowadays a huge amount of data is generated by all companies, large or small and it usually requires a big team of analysts to reach any successful conclusion. Also, the nature and high importance of the role compels every organisation and firm to look for highly qualified and educated professionals whose prestigious degrees usually speak for them.

An MBA in Business Analytics, which happens to be a branch of Business Intelligence, also prepares one for a successful career as a management, data or market research analyst among many others. Below, we list the top 7 graduate school programs in Business Analytics in the world that would make any candidate ideal for this high paying job.

1 New York University – Stern School of Business

Location: New York City, United States

Tuition Fees: $74,184 per year

Duration:  2 years (full time)

With a graduate acceptance rate of 23%, the NYU Stern School makes it to this list due to the diversity of the course structure that it offers in its MBA program in Business Analytics. One can specialise and learn the science behind econometrics, data mining, forecasting, risk management and trading strategies by being a part of this program. The School prepares its students and offers employability in fields of investment banking, marketing, consulting, public finance and strategic planning. Along with opportunities to study abroad for small durations, the school also offers its students ample chances to network with industry leaders by means of summer internships and career workshops. It is a STEM designated two-year, full time degree program.

2 University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School Business 

Location: Philadelphia, United States

Tuition fees: $81,378 per year

Duration: 20 months (full time, including internship)

The only Ivy-League school in the list with one of the best Business Analytics MBA programs in the world, Wharton has an acceptance rate of 19% only. The tough competition here is also characterised by the high range of GMAT scores that most successful applicants have – it lies between 540 and 790, averaging at a very high threshold of 732. Most of Wharton’s graduating class finds employment in a wide range of sectors including consulting, financial services, technology, real estate and health care among many others. The long list of Wharton’s alumni includes some of the biggest business entities in the world, them being – Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Ronald Perelman and John Scully.

The best part about Wharton’s program structure is its focus on building leadership and a strong sense of teamwork in every student.

3 Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School of Business

Location: Pittsburgh, United States

Tuition Fees: $67,575

Duration: 18 months (online)

The Tepper School of Business in Carnegie Mellon University is the only graduate school in the list that offers an online Master of Science program in Business Analytics. The primary objectives of the program is to equip students with creative problem solving expertise and deep analytic skills. The highlights of the program include machine learning, programming in Python and R, corporate communication and the knowledge of various business domains like marketing, finance, accounting and operations.

The various sub courses offered within the program include statistics, data management, data analytics in finance, data exploration and optimization for prescriptive analytics. There are several special topics offered too, like Ethics in Artificial Intelligence and People Analytics among many others.

4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Sloan School of Management

Location: Cambridge, United States

Tuition Fees: $136,480

Duration: 12 months

The Master of Business Analytics program at MIT Sloan is a relatively new program but has made it to this list due to MIT’s promise and commitment of academic and all-rounder excellence. The program is offered in association with MIT’s Operations Research Centre and is customised for students who wish to pursue a career in the industry of data sciences. The program is easily comprehensible for students from any educational background. It is a STEM designated program and the curriculum includes several modules like machine learning, usage of analytics software tools like Python, R, SQL and Julia. It also includes courses on ethics, data privacy and a capstone project.

5 University of Chicago – Graham School

Location: Chicago, United States

Tuition Fees: $4,640 per course

Duration: 12 months (full time) or 4 years (part time)

The Graham School in the University of Chicago is mainly interested in candidates who show love and passion for analytics. An incoming class at Graham usually consists of graduates in science or social science, professionals in an early career who wish to climb higher in the job ladder and mid-career professionals who wish to better their analytical skills and enhance their decision-making prowess.

The curriculum at Graham includes introduction to statistics, basic levels of programming in analytics, linear and matrix algebra, machine learning, time series analysis and a compulsory core course in leadership skills. The acceptance rate of the program is relatively higher than the previous listed universities at 34%.

6 University of Warwick – Warwick Business School

Location: Coventry, United Kingdom

Tuition Fees: $34,500

Duration: 12 months (full time)

The only school to make it to this list from the United Kingdom and the only one outside of the United States, the Warwick Business School is ranked 7th in the world by the QS World Rankings for their Master of Science degree in Business Analytics. The course aims to build strong and impeccable quantitative consultancy skills in its candidates. One can also look forward to improving their business acumen, communication skills and commercial research experience after graduating out of this program.

The school has links with big corporates like British Airways, IBM, Proctor and Gamble, Tesco, Virgin Media and Capgemini among others where it offers employment for its students.

7 Columbia University – School of Professional Studies

Location: New York City, United States 

Tuition Fees: $2,182 per point

Duration: 1.5 years full time (three terms)

The Master of Sciences program in Applied Analytics at Columbia University is aimed for all decision makers and also favours candidates with strong critical thinking and logical reasoning abilities. The curriculum is not very heavy on pure stats and data sciences but it allows students to learn from extremely practical and real-life experiences and examples. The program is a blend of several online and on-campus classes with several week-long courses also. A large number of industry experts and guest lectures take regular classes, conduct workshops and seminars for exposing the students to the real-world scenario of Business Analytics. This also gives the students a solid platform to network and broaden their perspective.

Several interesting courses within the paradigm of the program includes storytelling with data, research design, data management and a capstone project.

The admission to every school listed above is extremely competitive and with very limited intake. However, as it is rightly said, hard work is the key to success, one can rest guaranteed that their career will never be the same if they make it into any of these programs.

Ariaa Reeds

Data Science Certifications to Excel in Your Career: A Holistic Approach

/in , , /by

Personal and professional growth for an individual depends on the investment one puts in continued education. Continued education is necessary for leadership positions and industries such as human resources, manufacturing, marketing, operations, information technology, etc. Staying updated with the relevant profession is essential to move up the career ladder, and in certain cases, it is essential to save the job. 

It showcases your knowledge, education, and relevant skills necessary to perform the job for the current and future employers. ‘Career growth’ is not defined by the higher salaries but the effort made to earn those ‘higher salaries.’ Higher salaries do not mean the appreciable yearly increment in a well-established firm but earning the competent salaries by staying with the trend. We will discuss the learning opportunities for the most in-demand data science professionals here. 

 

Data Science certifications for the Newbies

When you understand the basic principles of data science, it would help you use the tools productively. If you are looking to develop data analytic skills, then you can opt for certain free online courses. It helps you learn the basics of data science at your own pace and get acquainted with the field knowledge.  

Most of the data science certification program or courses mentioned below are available free online. Though, a few may charge for gaining the certification once you finish the course. Whatever the case may be, you get destined to gain knowledge in the field which would be a good kick start for your career. 

To mention a few, they are:

  • Coursera – Data Science Specialization
  • Edx – Data Science Essentials
  • Udacity – Introduction to Machine Learning
  • IBM – Data Science Fundamentals
  • Data Quest – Become a Data Scientist
  • Kdnuggets – Data Mining Course

Most of these courses are available free online and are self-paced. You can get the basic hold of the subject and afterward, you may go for premium courses to advance learning or earn certifications.  

 

Data Science Certifications for Professionals

To stay competitive in the industry, you should get certified from industry-renowned global certification bodies. Mention not to say, there is a lot of difference between courses and certifications. Though a course gives you the relevant subject knowledge or skill, a certification program is vendor-neutral and increases your employability factor. It equips you with the latest tools and techniques and assures your prospective recruiter that you are their shot to hire. 

To mention a few of the best data science certifications, they are:

  • SAS Academy for Data Science – SAS Certified Data Scientist
  • Data Science Council of America (DASCA) – Senior Data Scientist 
  • Google- Google Certified Professional Data Engineer
  • Dell EMC Education Services– Data Science Associate v2 (DCS-DS) certification and the Data Science Specialist (DCS-DS) certification

These certifications equip you with the latest tools and techniques and assure your prospective recruiter that you are their shot to hire. 

 

Industry-specific Certifications

Industry-specific certifications, as the name itself indicates, these are specific to the industries. These certifications provide you specific training with use cases in the industry you are interested in or working. It helps you solve industrial problems at a faster rate with deep insight.  

To mention a few:

  • Agriculture Industry- Certificate in Agricultural Data Science
  • Fintech industry- Certification course for financial professions
  • Business Analytics – Harvard Business School’s Certification Program 

The data collected by an education department is entirely different from the e-commerce industry. These certifications give you a clear-cut idea about data mining and deriving insights by using the right and specific tools as required.

 

Cross-functional Certifications

A data science job is an end-to-end job. Data insights are used to improve business productivity, marketing strategy, and business value. So, it is good to know other fields also like business analytics, marketing, manufacturing. Though these certifications do not directly deal with the subject, it structures your knowledge base in the industry. It gives a holistic approach to your work and widens your organizational value. 

To mention a few, they are:

  • Project Management Institute- Project Management Professional Certification
  • Springboard – Certified UX Designer
  • Business Analyst Professional Program – Institute of Business Analyst Training

These certifications give you complete knowledge of the system and help you derive data with a holistic approach and gain business benefits. 

 

Wrapping Up:

In addition to certifications, it is necessary to complete a few independent projects to showcase your skills. It increases practical knowledge and provides hand-on-experience in technology. Ultimately, the knowledge we impart for the organization that can increase value matters. 

So, rather than choosing certifications or learnings merely for job or salary purposes, it is recommended to choose for learning purposes. When you develop interest and dedication for the subject, it helps you go a long way in the career path. 

Be strategic in your learnings and increase the knowledge base.