Data Science in the New Economy: A new race for talent in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Insight ReportData Science in the New EconomyA new race for talent in the Fourth Industrial RevolutionJuly 2019Centre for the New Economy and Society This Report is produced by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the New Economy and Society as part of its New Metrics CoLab project. For more information, or to get involved, please contact cnes@weforum.org. This Report has been published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum, but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders.World Economic Forum 91-93 route de la Capite CH-1223 Cologny/GenevaSwitzerland Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212 Fax: +41 (0)22 786 2744 Email: contact@weforum.org www.weforum.org World Economic Forum® © 2019 – All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. REF 020719 Contents04 Key FindingsKey insightsImplications for decision-makers06 Emerging Demand for Data Science Skills Across IndustriesActionable Insight Source Data and Model10 Learning Achievements in Data Science Skills Across Industries and RegionsActionable Insight Source Data and Model14 Changing Composition of Data Science Skills Within RolesActionable Insight Source Data and Model19 A Look at Future Demand for Data Science Jobs21 AcknowledgementsThis Report has been published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum, but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. 04Data Science in the New Economy Key FindingsThrough three industrial revolutions, technology has led to significant changes across economies, societies and businesses. Steam engines jump-started the transition of societies from agriculture to industrial production. The use of fossil fuels in engines and innovation in business models such as the assembly line rapidly scaled production. More recently, the digital revolution brought computing power and information technology. Each successive industrial revolution has involved significant shifts in the way people live and work, in how value is created in the economy, and demand for the highest-value skills.As the Fourth Industrial Revolution unfolds, led by advances in technologies such as data science and artificial intelligence, the labour market is again changing in a fundamental fashion. In 2018 the Future of Jobs Survey and Report revealed that business leaders believe that by 2022, human workers and automated processes are set to share the workload of current tasks equally, while a range of new roles is expected to emerge simultaneously as digital innovation is absorbed across industries and regions. In particular, in many large advanced and emerging markets, growth is expected in sectors that will experience the bulk of these new roles, such as information technology, renewable energy, education and the care economy, and in occupations such as data science, healthcare work and human resources.While the new labour market is changing at a rapid pace, emerging data sources are shedding light on its composition with a new depth and dynamism that has not previously existed. Online platforms and specialized insight firms are now offering new and complementary ways to understand how specific skills, tasks and occupations are changing across industries and geographies. While many of these remain limited to specific populations—and difficult to compare and contrast—when coupled with traditional and qualitative sources of data, they can help businesses, policy-makers and workers have greater analytic capacity about the present and future of work and adopt better informed and coordinated business strategies and policies.The World Economic Forum’s Centre for the New Economy and Society is a platform for insights and action on emerging socio-economic issues. As part of its agenda, the Centre offers an opportunity for companies to partner with the Forum to share insights on emerging trends in a diverse set of issues such as education, skills, jobs, gender and inclusive growth. This Report is among a series of such collaborations aimed at developing new metrics and deploying data for shedding light on public good challenges.It has become commonplace to refer to data as the ‘new oil’ of the global economy. Data scientists are the talent that provide the ability to extract, refine and deploy this new source of value in the