European Data Science Academy: Training the Next Generation of Data Scientists

Elena SimperlUniversity of Southampton

@esimperl

What is EDSA?• Surveys• Interviews• Dashboards

Landscaping data science demand

• Modular, media-rich, extensible, multiple languages

• Core, specialist, and sector-specific topics

Curriculum and

courses• Video lectures and webinars• MOOCs• eBooks• Professional courses

Training and

learning analytics

1.What is the current demand for data skills in Europe?

2.What training should be offered in order to accommodate this demand?

• Surveys• Interviews• Dashboards

Landscaping data science demand

SURVEYS & INTERVIEWSLandscaping methods

All EU countries

19 Eurostat defined industry sectors

Sole traders to

large companie

s

584 survey

responses

108 interview

s

Organisation

Eastern Europe

Northern Europe

Southern Europe

Western Europe

NA Total

Large 69 112 100 105 1 387SME 36 75 81 45 4 241Micro 5 14 7 9 1 36Self-employed

2 4 5 3 0 14

NA 0 2 2 10 0 14

Importance of Data Science Skills How would you rate the following skills for a data scientist?

 

Proficiency in Data Science Skills: ManagersHow proficient are you in the following skills areas? (1=very poor; 5=very good)

 

Proficiency in Data Science Skills: PractitionersHow proficient are you in the following skills areas? (1=very poor; 5=very good)

 

M

P

Demand for Non-technical Skills

0

5

10

15

20

25 % of interviewees

“The data scientist must be willing to adapt quickly in order to keep up.”

Data scientists must have the “soft skills required of interacting with businesses and guiding the people responsible for making decisions“.

Tools, Technologies, Topics

Challenges to Find Training• Majority of interviewees faced challenges with:

– finding courses: “It is difficult to find courses also because there is no single platform to search within.”

– gathering sufficiently detailed information on contents and course quality

– finding tailored solutions aligned with team’s needs

• Understanding one’s own status and demand (both as an individual and organisation) is an additional challenge:– “The difficulty is finding or understanding where the

individual is in terms of his own skill-set and where he needs to develop, and then finding the resources to plug into those gaps.“

 

Training Methods

Recommendations

• Communication and persuasion skills

• Social skills

• Basic data literacy training for organisations

• Skills analytics framework

• Sector-specific courses

EDSA DASHBOARDLandscaping methods

Job Demand Data

~300K postings from• Adzuna (via API) –

UK, DE, FR, N• Trovit (scraping) –

additional 18 countries, 13 with good coverage

Extracted information• Time, geolocation• Skills

Country No. of Postings Extracted

Austria 4,694Belgium 10,764Bulgaria 44Czech Republic 6,232Denmark 7,026Estonia 2France 34,881Germany 20,938Hungary 7,225Ireland 18,919Italy 11,543Malta 38The Netherlands 9,571Norway 33Poland 18,159Portugal 21,784Romania 17,946Slovakia 3Spain 9,210Sweden 13,870Switzerland 14,616United Kingdom 89,343

TOTAL 316,841

dashboard.edsa-project.euPolicy makers

dashboard.edsa-project.eu (2)Job seekers

Addressing DemandEDSA courses portal:

edsa-project.eu/resources/courses/