Personal Statement: Data Science and Analytics

Data science is an interdisciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and
systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge and insights from noisy, structured and
unstructured data,[1][2] and apply knowledge from data across a broad range of application
domains.
Data science is a "concept to unify statistics, data analysis, informatics, and their related
methods" in order to "understand and analyse actual phenomena" with data.[4] It uses
techniques and theories drawn from many fields within the context of mathematics, statistics,
computer science, information science, and domain knowledge.[3] However, data science is
different from computer science and information science.

We live in a new world where everything is tracked, mapped, and recorded in digital bits. A
growing percentage of Nigerians have smartphones and thus the entire life of a person can be
catalogued in the digital realm.The life of a man can be understood by the footprint he has left
on multiple digital channels. Many hidden truths about the world we live in can now be
unlocked through the power of data. Our new ability, the breakthrough analysis of data, is
leading us into new discoveries that will forever change how we live and interact with the world
around us.

Data is now the blood of today’s business and the ultimate enabler of the evolution of 21st
century society. The best and the richest of the future are those who have gained superior
mastery in how they translate massive data into actionable insights, impactful business
decisions, enhanced services to customers, and the avoidance of risks and losses.

Data science is the new emerging interdisciplinary field leading this revolution. Data Science is
the art of turning data into actions. These actionable insights may include solutions that can be
used for determining the best products to recommend, how traffic patterns influence
consumption, weather forecasts, stock market predictions, production process improvements,
epidemic trend detection, and how best to engage certain customers with targeted advertising,
etc.

This approach is completely different from the traditional silo-based analytical practice, which is
largely dominated by reporting the past or explaining the present. Data science provides a
futuristic and prescriptive roadmap which combines the past, present and future in completely
unrelated scenarios and multi-dimensional contexts to provide answers beyond the obvious.
Data Science is the art of turning data into actions.

Data Science Case studies

Everyday problems that Data Science can solve:

How can Lagos traffic be optimised for effective logistic distribution?

How do we predict and pre-empt crime and neighbourhood social risk using social media
triggers and online “crowding”?
How can a state/nation design a realistic path for city planning and expansion using data of all
mobile callers’ densification and aggregation (day vs. night)?

How can the HR Director of a company predict next-staff-to-exit based on some LinkedIn
parameters (companies most followed, frequency of activities etc.) and past exit interviews?
How does “who wins or loses a match” in the Premiership on a Saturday affect beer
consumption or mobile data usage behaviour?
What is the degree of alignment between the followers’ profile/sentiment of a brand and its
paid brand ambassador? Are brands spending right on the right ambassadors or is it all hypes?
How do you identify customers for possible cross-selling, deep-selling or up-selling in a service-
based business?

Without the expertise of professionals who turn cutting-edge

technology into actionable insights, Big Data is nothing. Today, more
and more organizations are opening up their doors to big data and
unlocking its power—increasing the value of a data scientist who
knows how to tease actionable insights out of gigabytes of data.
Empowering management and officers to make better decision
Directing actions based on trends—which in turn help to define goals
Challenging the staff to adopt best practices and focus on issues that matter
Identifying opportunities
Decision making with quantifiable, data-driven evidence
Testing these decisions
Identification and refining of target audiences
Recruiting the right talent for the organization

Conclusion
Data science can add value to any business
who can use their data well. From statistics
and insights across workflows and hiring new
candidates, to helping senior staff make
better-informed decisions, data science is
valuable to any company in any industry.

Data science are in constant demand because it is a data-heavy world!

Data scientists are a new growing breed of professionals, highly in demand today. This term
was introduced some years back by data leads to companies in LinkedIn and Facebook. And
today, we have a huge influx of data scientist nerds working across verticals. This demand
happened due to the sudden need to find brains who could wrangle with data and help make
discoveries and ultimately empower organizations to make data-driven decisions. This also
marked the dawn of digital transformation. From organizations trying to meddle with petabytes
of data, a data scientist’s role was to help them utilize this opportunity to find insights from this
data pool. They will use their computer science, statistics, and mathematical skills to analyze,
process, interpret and store data. It is not just about analytical skills, but a data scientist’s scope
combines the best social skills to discover trends.

WHAT IS DATA SCIENCE & WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Data is meaningless until its conversion into valuable information. Data Science involves mining
large datasets containing structured and unstructured data and identifying hidden patterns to
extract actionable insights. The importance of Data Science lies in its innumerable uses that
range from daily activities like asking Siri or Alexa for recommendations to more complex
applications like operating a self-driving car.

IMPORTANCE OF DATA SCIENCE IN BUSINESS

There are various reasons why Data Science is important in business. Data Science enables
enterprises to measure, track, and record performance metrics for facilitating enterprise-wide
enhanced decision making. Companies can analyze trends to make critical decisions to engage
customers better, enhance company performance, and increase profitability. Data Science
models use existing data and can simulate several actions. Thus, companies can devise the path
to reap the best business outcomes. Data Science helps organizations identify and refine target
audiences by combining existing data with other data points for developing useful insights. Data
Science also helps recruiters by combining data points to identify candidates that best fit their
company needs.

BENEFITS OF DATA SCIENCE

The organizational importance of Data Science is continuously increasing. According to one
study, the global Data Science market is expected to grow to $115 billion by 2023. Some of the
many Data Science benefits include the following:

In the healthcare industry, physicians use Data Science to analyze data from wearable trackers
to ensure their patients’ well-being and make vital decisions. Data Science also enables hospital
managers to reduce waiting time and enhance care.
Retailers use Data Science to enhance customer experience and retention.
Data Science is widely used in the banking and finance sectors for fraud detection and
personalized financial advice.
Transportation providers use Data Science to enhance the transportation journeys of their
customers. For instance, Transport for London maps customer journeys offering personalized
transportation details, and manages unexpected circumstances using statistical data.
Construction companies use Data Science for better decision making by tracking activities,
including average time for completing tasks, materials-based expenses, and more.
Data Science enables trapping and analyzing massive data from manufacturing processes,
which has gone untapped so far.
With Data Science, one can analyze massive graphical data, temporal data, and geospatial data
to draw insights. It also helps in seismic interpretation and reservoir characterization.
Data Science facilitates firms to leverage social media content to obtain real-time media
content usage patterns. This enables the firms to create target audience-specific content,
measure content performance, and recommend on-demand content.
Data Science helps study utility consumption in the energy and utility domain. This study allows
for better control of utility use and enhanced consumer feedback.
Data Science applications in the public service field include health-related research, financial
market analysis, fraud detection, energy exploration, environmental protection, and more.