In two years, there will be 4.4. million jobs dealing with Big Data, which is the phrase used to describe the 2.5 quintillion bytes of information created every day through consumer data, mobile devices and social media. Some estimate that the amount of Big Data will reach 40 zettabytes by 2025.
The demand for people with data analytics skills is expected to increase by 24 percent over the next eight years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which could mean more jobs than people who can actually do them.
IBM, the technology corporation behind the data-mining super computer and Jeopardy champ Watson, has taken new steps in its attempt to help create enough Big Data scientists to close that “skills gap” and deal with the oncoming onslaught of information. The company announced on Wednesday that it has has added nine new institutions to its academic partnerships that focus on Big Data.
More than 1,000 universities around the world are involved in similar collaborations with IBM.
“It’s hard for people to understand just the sheer quantity of this data,” said Jim Spohrer, director of Global University Relations Programs at IBM. “It’s creating tremendous economic opportunity in regions all around the world. It really is a global phenomenon creating high skills job of the future.
See Page 2 for details about what the partnerships will produce at the various universities.
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