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