Industrial Problems Seminar: Licensed to Analyze? An In-Depth Look at the Data Science Career: Defining Roles, Assessing Skills

In collaboration with the Minnesota Center for Industrial Mathematics, the Industrial Problems Seminars are a forum for industrial researchers to offer a first-hand glimpse into industrial research. The seminars take place Fridays from 1:25 p.m. - 2:25 p.m.

This week's speaker, Hamit Hamutcu (Initiative for Analytics and Data Science Standards), will be giving a talk titled "Licensed to Analyze? An In-Depth Look at the Data Science Career: Defining Roles, Assessing Skills."

Registration is required to access the Zoom webinar.

Abstract

As the role of data and analytics is expanding very rapidly in creating new business models or changing existing ones, demand for data science and analytics professionals is growing at an increasing rate. However, almost every company in the industry has a unique way of defining roles and assigning titles in data related positions. For any given role or title, such as ‘Data Scientist’ or ‘Data Analyst’, we see a big variety of role definitions and expected knowledge and skills. This creates inefficiencies and makes it difficult for companies to find the right match for a given position, leverage analytics skills effectively and retain talent. It also makes it hard for professionals to understand what a certain position requires and develop their own development plans. This has resulted in a chaotic market that is confusing to employers, academic and training institutions, and candidates.

In order to address this, Initiative for Analytics and Data Science Standards (IADSS) has been launched and has kicked-off a global scale research and thought leadership effort. Our goal is to gain insight into the data profession in the industry and help support the development of standards regarding role definitions, required skills and, career advancement paths.

In this presentation we will share our research findings and recommendations on skill requirements for a variety of data science roles, career paths in the industry, and latest practices of organizations for recruiting, training, and managing data science resources.

Hamit brings 25 years of industry and consulting experience in the areas of analytics and data-driven strategy.

Biography

In his current role as Senior Advisor for The Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University, as part of the leadership team, he focuses on strategy and organizational development to launch programs that contribute to and work with the global AI ecosystem.

Hamit is the co-founder of the Initiative for Analytics and Data Science Standards. IADSS aims to develop industry standards for the knowledge and skills required in data science roles and is a best-practice and research hub for the data science profession. The Initiative is also working on an innovative framework for data literacy through its Data Citizen program.

He is also co-founder of Analytics Center, a leading platform in EMEA that provides training, advisory services and organizes strategic events on big data, advanced analytics, disruptive technologies, and new business models.

Previously, Hamit was a partner for Peppers & Rogers Group in Stamford, Connecticut, where he headed the Global Analytics Group and oversaw the growth of the analytics practice. He helped his clients develop best-practice analytics organizations, build data infrastructure, and deploy models to support business goals. He was a founding partner for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa offices and grew the firm in the region. He delivered projects and managed teams across the globe in industries such as logistics, financial services, telecom, and government.

Earlier in his career, Hamit held several marketing analytics and technology positions at FedEx in Memphis, Tennessee, where he led IT and business teams to leverage enormous amounts of company data generated to serve its customers better.

Hamit is a frequent speaker, writer, and board member at various startups and nonprofit organizations. Hamit also volunteers as a mentor with Endeavor to support entrepreneurs and innovation by mentoring startups and acting as a jury member. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in electronics engineering at Bogazici University in Istanbul. He received his MBA from the University of Florida.