Why everyone should become a data scientist

[Music]

data exists

in many forms and is often generated by

our non-deliberate actions

when we spend time with our friends and

loved ones on social media

we’re generating data about our likes

dislikes the language we speak

our location and so much more and this

data

is often used by social media companies

to help

improve our next online experience

imagine a life without social media

imagine a life without the ability to

buy from the comfort of our homes

imagine a life without data

take this picture for instance which

most of you would identify to be

someone’s running sessions actually my

running sessions

from this picture we can tell so many

stories because

it holds a set of facts that help us

make the next key decision

or simply put because it holds data

for instance we can tell that there’s an

almost fixed distance that i run

and you might notice that my sessions

happen on a saturday

or a sunday in the month of february

and maybe you might even go on to make a

mental note

of my average running pace and perhaps

compare it with your own pace of running

or that of someone else that you know

and most importantly you might have

already noticed that

i won’t be representing zambia at the

next olympic games

in the case of online purchases data

about

our purchase transactions is usually

used to suggest the next items

that we might be interested in buying

it’s even further used to protect our

money from fraudsters

who might attempt to make purchases

using our bank details

the fraudsters are detected through

anomaly transactions

when data about a current transaction is

compared against the history of our past

purchases

data has become an important game

changer in the world today

or as most people would put it it has

become the new oil

imagine such a great power being

harnessed by a country zambia

this is a dream that is not beyond reach

but it’s one that costs for all of us to

become data scientists

stay with me there it’s not as scary as

it sounds

i’ll explain along the way in how we can

at least be data literate

to harness the power within data the

world today offers two solutions that

are often spoken of interchangeably

one is called data science

which is a collection of scientific

approaches to obtain meaning from data

and the other is called big data or the

ability to leverage off the power of

modern day computing devices such as

storage

and processing speeds to analyze large

amounts of data with great speeds and

efficiencies

that have never been known before

big data and data science have led to

mixed experiences

that may discourage a developing

continent like africa

from taking part in their use however

the power might be critical in unlocking

africa’s

next level of growth and ushering in

zambia’s new development

some of you may recall the scandal

between facebook and cambridge analytica

where it was reported that data of up to

87 million facebook users

was illegally acquired and

inappropriately used

by the british political consulting firm

cambridge analytica

you may have even heard of how in the

united kingdom

many parents and their children cried

foul when the uk’s office of

qualifications

and examination regulations of co

allowed a data algorithm to determine

the results of students

and the results were found to be best

against students coming from poorer

backgrounds

and this may leave you wondering is big

data safe

can we trust data science i have spent

the last two years collaborating with

friends

and organizing free classes in data

science and artificial intelligence

in community outreach projects we aim to

raise awareness of how

data science when used properly can

bring about development

in in my work with with

these other data enthusiasts i have

learnt of a great concern

a concern as to whether it is even

possible to take up

data science as a fully fledged career

in zambia

and what is the reason for their concern

that we do not have enough data to work

within zambia

is it really that we lack the capacity

as a country to generate enough data to

sustain a career in data science

is this doubt keeping us as a nation

from becoming the next leader in a

data-driven tomorrow

well you might think for a moment that

we’re nowhere near generating and

consuming our own data

in the sizes of big data but while this

might seem true

we do not lack in data we have so much

that

so much data that surrounds even the

simplest of tasks

so let’s address this hesitation imagine

that

a grocery store owner and you’re able to

identify patterns

in customer purchases with just a basic

literacy level in data

you could use these patterns to deliver

the range of shelves

for greater customer convenience and

thereby maximizing your profits

there’s so much data out there sitting

and waiting for us

to harness its value but sometimes

discovering it

calls for creativity and an innovative

way of thinking

other times it calls for deliberate

attempts to harness it

but this is not only limited to business

settings

i have a story i’d like to share with

you of a person of projects

that i took and applied analytics

to gain insight

i’m an i.t auditor by trade and part of

my work

involves performing data analytics

and in this story as you can see i used

my analytics to actually gain an insight

of my use of a basic commodity

sugar we often tend to think that we

know ourselves better than

others however the outcome of my project

awakened me to how much of a stranger i

was to my own body cues

and this is clear evidence of how facts

and figures

can clearly transform how operate when

you move away from leading based on gut

feeling

to making decisions driven by data

insight

and my success in having captured enough

data to work with

is evidence enough of how readily

available data can be

so here goes my sugar analytic

on the summer day in 2020 i dashed into

the kitchen to make a bowl of cereal

but while in the process of trying to

make my cereal

i discovered that my weekly allocation

of sugar had run out

because it had run out only halfway

through the work i found this quite

strange

but since i live alone i knew there was

no one else to suspect apart from myself

and wanting to learn what had caused

this to happen picked my interest

so i began recording each review of my

sugar container

and circumstances surrounding the review

i had questions that needed to be

answered

whether my high use of sugar had

anything to do with stress

i even had my assumptions that it did

because i couldn’t think of any other

possible factors

after three months of recording my sugar

usage and recording the number of tasks

that i took up at work

i analyzed my data i noticed that in

most cases i used more sugar with each

increase in workloads

and to confirm this i checked my

correlation coefficient

which is a mathematical scale that helps

us get rid of force assumptions

the scale runs from negative one to one

with zero being neutral and anything

spreading away from zero being

a strong relationship in my analysis my

correlation coefficient was

negative 0.32 which is almost a weak

inverse relationship

and this was just about one of the last

things that could go wrong with my

analysis

with this failure i decided to consider

where my sugar was being consumed

and there’s only after considering my

connection my

my location that i was able to establish

a connection between

my sugar usage and workload

i learned that i used more sugar when

stressed if working from home

and on the other hand i used more sugar

when not stressed if working from the

office

and this is just one of the many

insights that i gained from analysis of

my sugar usage

i learned how my emotions work and body

state

affected my sugar intake i also

discovered that my sugar intake levels

actually

showed up even before my workload

increased but i knew this to be due to

anxiety

that i’d usually faced before taking up

a new job

an analysis of my sugar research data

also helped me then to discover how

this anxiety for me led to stress

lengthened working hours and reduced

productivity

i began cautiously looking out for some

of these triggers thanks to the

information that i gathered about myself

by using my appetite skills to know when

i’m anxious

and now actively consult and reach out

to people who may have

more technical knowledge about a new

task that would be assigned to undertake

and this helps to calm myself and to

plan more efficiently

before taking up the new job

accurately knowing how much i exceeded

the daily recommended sugar intake

levels

led me to taking up running as an active

sport that i do each weekend

and knowing the impact of my fast-paced

work environment on myself

has led me to appreciating the

importance of rest

analysis of my sugar research data and

the changes it prompted

enabled me to building up my physical

stamina

and keeping a keen eye on my mental

well-being and that’s increasing

productivity

well i’m sure i’m now considering taking

up an online course

in data science for others you can

always

take a step by appreciating the data

around you

as a continent taking full

responsibility of the world we’re

creating today

for our children tomorrow cause for all

of us to have

a basic literacy level in data science

as this would help us

understand the value of data and ensure

accountability

among users of our data and learning to

be brokers of our own data

is the beginning of a dawn for new

africa i’d like to take you back to that

shopkeeper

who has a chance of increasing their

profits by becoming tata literate

you might even know of a teacher who

could better understand their students

strengths

by analyzing their grades or you might

even be that doctor

with the wealth of past patient

illnesses or the government or that

government official

seeking to make meaningful development

data is always at the mercy of the

exploration

thank you

[Music]

you