As 2014 comes to an end, plenty of websites and blogs are projecting the role big data will play in the world in 2015. ITProPortal projects that data use will become more formalized – meaning “Big Data” will become less of a buzzwords and companies will start to analyze data with more purpose. This will also mean those companies that haven’t jumped aboard the data train will fall even farther behind. InformationWeek proposes that the Internet of Things will make Big Data that much more widespread, as well as projecting that Data Science will become more accessible.
Data Training Resources
Whether you have just completed a semester of school or are just enjoying a little vacation, now is a great time to sharpen some Data Science skills. Luckily there are many resources online. FastML offers a list of machine learning courses available. Kaggle has a list of courses, books, and papers to read. Booz Allen also published a Field Guide to Data Science which would be an important read if you would like to work in the consulting world.
Once you’ve gone through all of these resources, you can look to enroll in a degree program, like Syracuse University’s Masters in Information Management with a certificate in Data Science.
Data Visualizations
Data visualization of six billion geolocated tweets
Another fun way to enjoy vacation time is to look at some incredible data visualizations using Twitter data. First from Mapbox is a look at six billion geolocated tweets. At first glance, it looks like a picture from space of city lights. It is fascinating to look at where groupings of tweets are located, and you can even zoom into a particular neighborhood or block. With enough investigation, you may even find a few tweets from places that don’t allow Twitter – like in North Korea.
Winter weather create a lot of tweets. A map using the program CartoDB looks at all the tweets over a two-day period that mention rain or snow. Not surprisingly, quite a few of the tweets occur in Central New York.
Data Gift
If you are looking at your options for end of year donations, please consider giving to a project that will help students learn more about data science. Data by the Lake is a data analytics course that features a week-long immersion program, sending sixteen Syracuse University students to Chicago to meet with companies that use data to make decisions.
These programs are significant not only for the students, but also important for all companies that struggle to find the talent necessary to do good data analysis when making business decisions.
What kind of data news have you heard about this week? Let us know what you think of these reports – or others you’ve discovered – below in the comments!
