Turning this avalanche of data into meaningful business insights creates challenges that require data science skills..The need for professionals skilled in data science, analytics, and machine learning is skyrocketing..We’re seeing this across industries and sectors..A recent report from IBM states that there will be over 300,000 new job openings for data driven professionals by 2020..As it stands now, there is a shortage of the necessary technical skills for these roles..Specifically, professionals should focus on how to turn data into decisions..We’ve learned to build the infrastructure that can store and process massive amounts of data, but we still lack the critical ability to convert that data into meaningful information..This is one of the defining challenges of our time: to use data to make accurate predictions that can lead to high-impact decisions..Tackling this challenge means developing the ability to perform data processing and computation at a massive scale..This requires a time investment in ongoing education, preferably through multidisciplinary programs that include elements from engineering, mathematical sciences, and the social sciences..MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses) and online programs are able to mend this gap by creating a path to a traditional academic degree..googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1439400881943-0); }); Some universities are adapting to this data revolution by providing more on-campus data science courses, however, these are relatively new offerings that were not available to most while they were in school.. More details