Do you know how big a quintillion is? It’s 10 to the power of 18 – or a thousand raised to the power of six. Huge number. Not as big as 2.5 quintillion bytes of data, however. This is how much data Internet users generate each day (TechJury, 2021). However, this wealth of data requires innovative solutions and careful analysis before it can become useful. In turn, this creates a demand for new ways of handling Big Data, as well as specialist professionals who have the skills and knowledge to work with large data sets.
In response to the emerging market demand and to offer our students the most relevant qualification, we have launched the MSc Big Data and Data Science Technology programme. This Masters degree will equip students with essential skills and knowledge in data analytics and machine learning, to help them become successful in this fast-growing field.
Data is everywhere. And it is booming. It is estimated that by 2025, 200+ zettabytes of data will be in cloud storage around the globe (TechJury, 2021). By visiting popular services like YouTube, Facebook, Spotify or Amazon, users leave a lot of information about themselves – their music taste, hobbies, shopping habits and more. Not to mention Google, which processes approximately 63,000 search queries every second (Hubspot, 2021).  This amount of available data creates a wealth of opportunities for businesses. Data analysis benefits companies in many different ways; from optimising operations and predicting market trends, to improving efficiency and making them more innovative and competitive.
Endless opportunities lie within the vast sets of data for businesses. Therefore, data analysis is not only limited to the IT sector. Companies from a wide range of industries (SimpliLearn, 2021) – including Finance and Banking, Healthcare, Education, Retail, Manufacturing and Sports – rely on Big Data.
A great example of a business using data to its advantage is Netflix. By collecting data such as the times users watch their favourite shows or what type of programmes they prefer, Netflix can personalise their users’ experience. Based on the information they gather; they recommend shows which users are likely to watch and enjoy. This then translates into an impressive customer retention rate – the highest among online video streaming services.
Our new postgraduate MSc Big Data and Data Science Technology programme (also available with Advanced Practice), has been designed to build expertise in the application of programming language (such as SQL, Python or similar), big data, and machine learning on the cloud. Students will learn the principles of machine learning using cloud-based platforms such as Google Cloud or AWS or Microsoft Azure. By studying this hands-on programme, students will put theory into practice, while implementing solutions for real-world problem scenarios.
Successful completion of the programme can open doors into roles such as Data Engineer, Business Analyst, AI Cloud Architect or Machine Learning Engineering.
To learn more about the programme or submit an application, visit our website.
