Data Science: The Sexiest Job in the 21st Century数据科学：21 世纪最性感的工作

Course Text Book: 'Getting Started with Data Science' Publisher: IBM Press; 1 edition (Dec 13 2015) Print.
课程教材：《数据科学入门》 出版社：IBM 出版社；第 1 版（2015 年 12 月 13 日）印刷版。

Author: Murtaza Haider  作者：Murtaza Haider

Prescribed Reading: Chapter 1 Pg. 4
推荐阅读：第一章 第 4 页

Data Science: The Sexiest Job in the 21st Century 数据科学：21 世纪最性感的工作

In the data-driven world, data scientists have emerged as a hot commodity. The chase is on to find the best talent in data science. Already, experts estimate that millions of jobs in data science might remain vacant for the lack of readily available talent. The global search for skilled data scientists is not merely a search for statisticians or computer scientists. In fact, the firms are searching for well-rounded individuals who possess the subject matter expertise, some experience in software programming and analytics, and exceptional communication skills.
在数据驱动世界里，数据科学家已成为紧俏人才。寻找数据科学领域最佳人才的竞争正在激烈进行。专家们估计，由于缺乏现成的人才，数据科学领域的数百万个工作岗位可能仍然空缺。全球对数据科学领域技能人才的搜索并不仅仅是寻找统计学家或计算机科学家。事实上，公司正在寻找具备专业知识、一定软件编程和分析经验以及出色沟通能力的多面手。

Our digital footprint has expanded rapidly over the past 10 years. The size of the digital universe was roughly 130 billion gigabytes in 2005. By 2020, this number will swell to 40 trillion gigabytes. Companies will compete for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of new workers needed to navigate the digital world. No wonder the prestigious Harvard Business Review called data science the sexiest job in the 21st century.
我们数字足迹在过去 10 年内迅速扩张。2005 年，数字宇宙的规模大约为 1300 亿吉字节。到 2020 年，这一数字将膨胀至 40 万亿吉字节。公司将竞争数十万甚至数百万名新工人，以驾驭数字世界。难怪著名的《哈佛商业评论》将数据科学称为 21 世纪最性感的工作。

A report by the McKinsey Global Institute warns of huge talent shortages for data and analytics. By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.
麦肯锡全球研究所的一份报告警告称，数据和分析师领域存在巨大的人才短缺。到 2018 年，仅美国就可能面临 14 万到 19 万名具备深度分析能力的人才短缺，以及 150 万名懂得如何利用大数据分析做出有效决策的管理人员和分析师。

Because the digital revolution has touched every aspect of our lives, the opportunity to benefit from learning about our behaviors is more so now than ever before. Given the right data, marketers can take sneak peeks into our habit formation. Research in neurology and psychology is revealing how habits and preferences are formed and retailers like Target are out to profit from it. However, the retailers can only do so if they have data scientists working for them. "For this reason, it is like an arms race to hire statisticians nowadays", said Andreas Weigend, the former chief scientist at Amazon.com.
由于数字革命已经触及我们生活的方方面面，从学习我们的行为中获益的机会比以往任何时候都更加难得。有了合适的数据，营销人员可以窥探我们的习惯形成过程。神经学和心理学领域的研究正在揭示习惯和偏好的形成方式，而像塔吉特（Target）这样的零售商正试图从中获利。然而，零售商只有拥有数据科学家为其工作才能做到这一点。亚马逊（Amazon.com）的前首席科学家安德烈亚斯·魏根德（Andreas Weigend）说：“出于这个原因，如今雇佣统计学家就像一场军备竞赛。”

There is still the need to convince the C-suite executives of the benefits of data and analytics. It appears that the senior management might be a step or two behind the middle management in being informed of the potential of analytics-driven planning. Professor Peter Fader, who manages the Customer Analytics Initiative at Wharton, knows that executives reach the C-suite without having to interact with data. He believes that the real change will happen when executives are well-versed in data and analytics.
仍然需要说服高管层数据和分析的好处。看来，高级管理层在了解分析驱动规划的潜力方面可能比中层管理层落后一步或两步。负责沃顿大学客户分析计划（Customer Analytics Initiative）的彼得·法德教授（Professor Peter Fader）知道，高管层晋升到高管层时并不需要与数据互动。他认为，真正的变革将发生在高管层精通数据和分析之时。

SAP, a leader in data and analytics, reported from a survey that 92% of the responding firms in its sample experienced a significant increase in their data holdings. At the same time, three-quarters identified the need for new data science skills in their firms. Accenture believes that the demand for data scientists may outstrip supply by 250,000 in 2015 alone. A similar survey of 150 executives by KPMG in 2014 found that 85% of the respondents did not know how to analyze data. Most organizations are unable to connect the dots because they do not fully understand how data and analytics can transform their business, Alwin Magimay, head of digital and analytics for KPMG UK, said in an interview in May 2015.
SAP 作为数据和分析领域的领导者，通过一项调查报告称，其样本中 92%的受访公司经历了其数据持有量的显著增加。与此同时，四分之三的公司识别出其企业中需要新的数据科学技能。Accenture 认为，仅 2015 年，对数据科学家的需求可能会超过供应量 25 万人。KPMG 在 2014 年对 150 位高管进行的类似调查发现，85%的受访者不知道如何分析数据。大多数组织无法将事情联系起来，因为他们没有完全理解数据和分析如何改变他们的业务，KPMG 英国数字化和分析负责人 Alwin Magimay 在 2015 年 5 月的一次采访中说。

Bernard Marr writing for Forbes also raises concerns about the insufficient analytics talent. There just aren't enough people with the required skills to analyze and interpret this information-transforming it from raw numerical (or other) data into actionable insights-the ultimate aim of any Big Data-driven initiative, he wrote. Bernard quotes a survey by Gartner of business leaders of whom more than 50% reported the lack of in-house expertise in data science.
为 Forbes 撰文的 Bernard Marr 也提出了对分析人才不足的担忧。目前，具备所需技能来分析和解读信息的人并不足够——将原始数值（或其他）数据转化为可操作的洞察——这是任何大数据驱动计划的最終目标，他写道。Bernard 引用了 Gartner 对商业领袖的一项调查，其中超过 50%的人报告称缺乏内部数据科学专业知识。

Bernard reported on Walmart, which turned to crowd-sourcing for its analytics need. Walmart approached Kaggle to host a competition for analyzing its proprietary data. The retailer provided sales data from a shortlist of stores and asked the competitors to develop better forecasts of sales based on promotion schemes.
伯纳德报道了沃尔玛，该公司转向众包来解决其分析需求。沃尔玛与 Kaggle 合作，举办了一场分析其专有数据的竞赛。这家零售商提供了一组商店的销售数据，并要求参赛者根据促销方案开发更好的销售预测。

Given the shortage of data scientists, employers are willing to pay top dollars for the talent. Michael Chui, a principal at McKinsey, knows this too well. "Data science has become relevant to every company… There's a war for this type of talent," he said in an interview. Take Paul Minton, for example. He was making $20,000 serving tables at a restaurant. He had majored in math at college. Mr. Minton took a three-month programming course that changed everything. He made over $100,000 in 2014 as a data scientist for a web startup in San Francisco. Six figures, right off the bat… To me, it was astonishing, said Mr Minton.
由于数据科学家的短缺，雇主愿意为这类人才支付高额报酬。麦肯锡合伙人迈克尔·楚伊对此了如指掌。"数据科学已成为每家公司的相关领域……这场人才争夺战正在上演，"他在一次采访中说。以保罗·明顿为例。他在餐厅打工时，收入仅为 2 万美元。他在大学主修数学。明顿先生参加了一个为期三个月的编程课程，一切都改变了。2014 年，他作为旧金山一家网络创业公司的数据科学家，收入超过 10 万美元。这可是六位数，一出手就是……对明顿先生来说，这令人惊讶。

Could Mr Minton be exceptionally fortunate, or are such high salaries the norm? Luck had little to do with it; the New York Times reported $100,000 as the average base salary of a software engineer and $112,000 for data scientists.
明顿先生是特别幸运，还是这类高薪是常态？运气几乎不起作用；纽约时报报道软件工程师的平均基本工资为 10 万美元，数据科学家的平均基本工资为 11.2 万美元。

For further reading: Is Data Science Still the Sexiest Job in the 21st Century?
进一步阅读：数据科学在 21 世纪仍然是最性感的工作吗？
-by Thomas H. Davenport and DJ Patil
-托马斯·H·达文波特和 DJ 帕特尔
Harvard Business Review  哈佛商业评论