IBM plans to give data scientists a boost. To this end, it will introduce a new certification and an internal internship programme that will give young people with no experience in information technology the opportunity to become professional data scientists.
According to last summer’s LinkedIn Workforce Report, the United States currently offers 150,000 unfilled jobs in the data sciences. This is problematic for companies that want to take advantage of the wide range of tools for data analytics. This is also a difficult situation for companies such as IBM, which sell such products.
The Open Group
For this reason, IBM is now working with The Open Group. This is a global partnership with some 625 members that develops open, company-neutral technology standards and certificates. According to IBM, The Open Group now has its first certification for data scientists. This certificate is based on peer reviews and practical experience and not on standardized tests.
It provides an objective, measurable standard of the capabilities and qualifications of data science, Martin Fleming and Seth Dobrin of IBM write in a blog about the new offering. Fleming is the Chief Analytics Officer and Dobrin the Chief Data Officer of IBM. IBM itself is the first company to offer certification to its employees, with three levels of certification.
Certificates are commonplace in the tech industry, especially when it comes to knowledge areas where results can really be measured. In the case of soft skills such as data sciences, where both technical skills and creativity are required, this is more difficult and so certificates in this area require a different perspective.
Internal internship
In addition to the new certificates, IBM also offers an internal internship programme. In addition, the company takes the initiative to hire as many employees as possible who do not have a traditional background in technology. IBM states that between 10 and 15 percent of new employees do not have the traditional four-year courses.
The programme covers 24 months and combines education, mentoring and practical experience. Employees who complete that programme receive a level one Open Group certification. Last week the first cohort of five students was hired by IBM. The intention is to roll out the program to the whole of the United States.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
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