Action on the data skills gap can’t wait until next term
“Data is often spoken of as the new water, so to effectively tap it we need to develop a generation of data prospectors”
As thoughts inevitably turn to summer vacations (global pandemic allowing, of course), the data skills gap might not be something keeping UK university professionals and leaders awake at night.
But with a still box-fresh National Data Strategy (NDS) in place and the government signalling an ambition for data to drive “anew era of growth”, it’s an issue that shouldn’t simply be pushed to the new term’s ‘to do’ list.
There’s a growing concern that a data ‘skills gap’ could turn into a ‘skills crisis’, both for the UK but also globally.
And with universities operating in a competitive international market, the provision of data skills modules within degree courses will increasingly inform decision-making of overseas students – and their parents and sponsors. Or Lenchner, CEO of Bright Data, explains.