SINGAPORE (Apr 12): Demand for data specialists is outstripping supply across Asia-Pacific, according to a study by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, as “data scientist” becomes the new hot job.

Yet, the turnover of data professionals tends to be relatively high.

These professionals stay in the job for an average of 1½ to two years, adding to the challenge of an already limited pool of talent.

And to exacerbate the data talent crunch, the role and requirements of data scientists are constantly evolving.

While companies have been able to fill junior positions from the local talent pool, it has been more challenging for the more senior positions. As such, most of the applicants for such roles have tended to be foreigners.

Against this backdrop, the government and tertiary education institutions in Singapore have launched various programmes aimed at addressing the gap between demand and available talent.

At the National University of Singapore, the School of Computing launched its Bachelor of Science (Business Analytics) six years ago. NUS also offers data analytics courses for working professionals.

Meanwhile, the Tech Skill Accelerator, run by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore, equips jobseekers with relevant skills through schemes such as company-led training, immersion, placement and mid-career conversion programmes.

Data science, or what is essentially the marriage of statistics and computer science, has become increasingly sexy over the last decade or so, as advances in technology allowed people to sift through vast amounts of data to extract insights and, importantly, monetise or at least find business applications for them.

But could there be other ways to plug the shortfall in the number of data scientists available here?

Find out more in The Edge Singapore (<a href="https://www.theedgesingapore.com/print-edition/Issue-877%3A-Privacy%2C-Inc" target="_blank">Issue 877, week of April 15</a>), available at newsstands now.

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