Analytics has been one of the more transformative technologies to hit the market in the past several decades. It is worth noting that business intelligence solutions have been around for a long time now, but big data is a far cry from the software and tools that preceded it.
At the same time, the private and public sectors are currently facing a significant gap in available talent, especially when it comes to such a novel technology like modern analytics.
It is worth noting that vendors and developers are working to create and release tools that are far more intuitive, and have succeeded in these endeavors to a certain point evidenced by heightened adoption rates among all types of businesses. However, these tools will simply not yield the highest possible returns on investment, nor will they have an optimal impact on decision-making, without big data courses and other forms of enhanced training.
Privacy first
One of the more prominent concerns surrounding big data when used without the proper skills is the security and privacy of information digested within the programs. FierceHealthIT recently reported that this has been a significant point of discussion in the medical community, where big data is at once viewed as a major stimulant of enhanced patient care and a potential threat to the privacy of information and records.
Big data privacy concerns are growing.
According to the news provider, the Privacy and Security Workgroup of the Health IT Policy Committee has worked to develop a set of standards and recommendations for medical firms looking to capitalize on big data without putting patient information at risk. Currently, the source noted that the latest line of recommendations is looking to complement HIPAA in the sense of regulating data collection alongside the much older legislation’s overseeing of information sharing among medical firms.
[sws_blockquote align=”” alignment=”alignright” cite=”” quotestyles=”style01″]Employees won’t be masters of analytics without education[/sws_blockquote]The health care sector is not the only field with these concerns, though, as MIT Technology Review explained that the ever-expanding universe of potential sources for data collection is yielding one of the more complex security situations out there today. Perhaps not all that surprisingly, the news provider argued that a lack of policies in place among firms using the technology, as well as leveraging antiquated strategies, present even more significant privacy threats across industries.
At the end of the day, education and training will be critical to get big data right on all angles.
An ongoing effort
Even if employees had been trained or educated in general data science a few years ago, this does not meant that they will be masters of analytics without any more professional development. Rather, the finer points of the technology, the techniques involved and the inherent privacy and security demands will continue to evolve as rapidly as they have for the past five years, and training needs to keep pace with this progression.
With the right big data courses delivered on an ongoing basis, businesses can begin to maximize the value of these powerful tools.
[course_table filter_keywords=”big data” hide_columns=”2,3,4,5,6″ accordion_title=”Big Data Courses”]