Demand for data scientists is rising across most industries but not enough people are trained to fill the roles, according to Rafael Irizarry, professor of biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“Data science is a new field, with new demands, and the training hasn’t kept up,” said Irizarry in a November 29, 2018 Q&A with insideBIGDATA. He said that universities have relied heavily on MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) to offer data science training because they can be developed quickly and they allow data scientists—many of whom are already in the workforce—to learn without leaving their jobs.
Irizarry has developed a number of online data science courses through edX, Harvard University’s and MIT’s online learning platform.
Universities are now starting to develop full-fledged data science programs for undergraduates and graduate students, Irizarry noted.
Read the insideBIGDATA Q&A: Interview: Rafael Irizarry, Professor of Biostatistics at Harvard University