Data science is the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data to drive insight and solutions to a given problem. It involves skills from several disciplines, including mathematics, computer science, algorithms, statistical analysis, and artificial intelligence/machine learning. It is one of the fastest growing careers because of the high demand for data analysis skills; artificial intelligence growth is helping to drive this trend.
Specializations:
- Supply chain analysis
- Artificial intelligence/machine learning
- Text mining, text analytics and natural language processing (NLP)
- Data visualization
- Neural networks
- Predictive analytics
- Information retrieval
- Cybersecurity
- Big data
Skills:
- Sciences (chemistry, biology, physics)
- Math (discrete math, statistics, calculus, geometry)
- Programming languages (often multiple, e.g., Python, C++, Java, SQL, Pandas, R)
- Algorithmic development
- Model building
- Set theory
- Text and data mining
- Training data sets/synthetic data
Societies:
- Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T): ASIS&T is the preeminent professional association that bridges the gap between information science practice and research. ASIS&T members represent the fields of information science, computer science, linguistics, management, librarianship, engineering, data science, information architecture, law, medicine, chemistry, education, and related technology.
- American Statistical Association: The American Statistical Association is the world’s largest community of statisticians. It is the second-oldest, continuously operating professional association in the country. Since it was founded in Boston in 1839, the ASA has supported excellence in the development, application, and dissemination of statistical science. through meetings, publications, membership services, education, accreditation, and advocacy.
- Association of Data Scientists: Association of Data Scientists is the premier global professional body of data science & machine learning professionals, and will lead in the development, dissemination and implementation of knowledge, basic and applied research and technologies in analytics, decision-making, and management.
- Data Science Association: The Data Science Association is a non-profit professional association of data scientists that serves our members, improving the data science profession, eliminating bias and enhancing diversity, and advancing ethical data science throughout the world.
- INFORMS: INFORMS is a vibrant community of data science, analytics, and operations research professionals. Our members are solving problems, finding solutions, and making a difference in how the world works.
- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM): Advance the application of mathematics and computational science to engineering, industry, science, and society. Research areas include computational science and numerical analysis, control and systems theory, data science, classical applied math, imaging sciences, and life sciences.
Conferences:
- ICDM, IEEE International Conference on Data Mining
- SIGKDD, ACM Special Interest Group on Knowledge Discovery in Data and Data Mining
- SIAM International Conference on Data Mining
- International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining
- Open Data Science Conference
- IEEE BigData
- Data Summit
- Women in Analytics Conference
- Data Science Conference
Sources:
Wikipedia, Data Science Conferences, The Top Data Science and Analytics Associations, Societies and Groups for Analytics, Data Mining, Data Science and Knowledge Discovery, Discover Data Science, professional association websites
