AIB to fund Chair in Data Analytics at DCU

 

 

AIB today announced it is to fund Dublin City University’s first Chair in Data Analytics at a time when the Big Data sector is predicted to generate 30,000 job opportunities up to 2020.

 

AIB has pledged five years’ funding for the Chair, which will provide academic and research leadership in the area of Data Science (Analytics). The position will be based in DCU’s School of Computing. AIB is also funding the employment of both a post-doctoral researcher and a PhD student.

 

The government’s Expert Group on Future Skills Needs estimates c. 30,000 job openings in Big Data and Analytics up to 2020, while the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) estimates that, by 2018, the United States will experience a shortage of 190,000 skilled data scientists and 1.5 million managers and analysts.

 

AIB Chief Executive Officer Bernard Byrne said the Chair in Data Analytics would build on DCU’s strong reputation for excellence by producing research to help both private and public sector organisations gain valuable insights from the large volumes of data that they collect.

 

“We are delighted to fund the Chair in Data Analytics. This partnership between AIB and DCU will help provide world-class graduates with the necessary combination of analytical, technical, numerical and business skills to work in areas that are

key to Ireland’s strategic interests such as Information and Communications Technology, Finance, Healthcare, and Agri-food. At AIB we are investing heavily in data analytics and are focussed on getting the best talent to interpret the data helping provide a better customer experience,’’ Bernard Byrne said.

 

Welcoming AIB’s announcement, DCU President Professor Brian MacCraith said DCU would also be launching a BSc in Data Science next year: “In our increasingly technology-driven world, we are inundated on a daily basis with data. Data analytics allows us to mine and harness these rich seams of information for insights that can improve our lives in many ways – whether it be improving healthcare, helping science and research to unlock the secrets of our universe, detecting and preventing cyber-attacks or fraud, creating smarter cities and towns for our citizens or helping businesses understand customer behaviour.