Data science is an age-old technology contrary to what it is perceived as a modern one. It has been prevalent for a long time than most people realize. So does that mean it is outdated or has reached its saturation stage? What can you expect for the future of the data science industry and if you are planning to make a career in data science, is there any scope ahead?
Let’s answer all these questions and understand what the future of data science looks like and whether you should opt for a career in this field or not.
The Current State Of The Data Science Industry
The biggest indicator of the current data science industry is the data science platform market size. Several research firms have confirmed the growing data science market, with market.us predicting the global data science platform market size to reach a whopping $310.7 billion by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 28.8%.
Moreover, the employment rate in this industry is also growing rapidly. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has confirmed a growth rate of 35% in data science jobs by 2032, which is approximately 54,000 new data science roles available every year.
Another important factor is the huge amount of data being generated every day. We are now surrounded by smart devices, IoT devices, and sensors, as well as the growth of the internet is at its peak where we are spending a lot of time interacting online, doing transactions, browsing, shopping, and even dating online.
All these data are immensely valuable for organizations and they are actively looking for skilled data science professionals to extract meaningful and actionable insights from these data and assist in data-driven decision-making.
Therefore, various data science job roles are growing and even offering greater salaries making data science career a lucrative option.
Some popular data science job roles in high demand now are:
- Data Engineer
To expedite the data analysis process, they assist in the construction and upkeep of data infrastructure and pipelines.
- Data Analyst
Various data science tools and approaches are employed to analyse large datasets and find patterns and trends.
- Database Administrator
Control database access, keep an eye on their functionality, and guarantee the security and safety of the company’s data.
- Machine Learning Engineer
To create effective machine learning models, they work with data scientists and AI experts to design and develop machine learning algorithms.
- Data Scientists
They are multidisciplinary professionals responsible for extracting insights from data using their business acumen, technical knowledge, and problem-solving capabilities.
Emerging Technologies Shaping the Future of Data Science and Careers in it
Data science is not the same as it used to be a few years back. In the last few years, development in several advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence and machine learning algorithms have completely transformed the way we use and perform data science operations. The same is applicable in the future as well.
Now, a huge portion of data science job listings mandatorily require machine learning as an important data science skill. Similarly, several other jobs also want NLP and other such technologies in their data science professionals.
Similarly, the rise of Generative AI has also huge impact on several data science jobs. Though they raised concerns about replacing the jobs of data analysts and others, in reality, they aid these job roles and make their work easier.
Another important breakthrough in technology is quantum computing which has the potential to completely transform how data processing and analysis is done by dramatically speeding up the calculations. Additionally, data science aspirants must also look for technologies like edge computing, proliferation of IoT devices, blockchain technology, etc. that can significantly affect data science jobs and the required skills to excel in one’s data science career.
Future Prospects of the Data Science Industry
So, how do these technologies affect the industry? As we enter the future, we can see several notable changes in the industry and data science career such as:
- Growth in demand for multi-faceted data science experts i.e., organizations will look for data science professionals with multiple data science skills and interdisciplinary knowledge.
- Increase in remote work and flexible working opportunities
- More focus would be given to data privacy and ethical considerations to safeguard users’ and customer’s private and sensitive data.
In summary, the future of data science is full of opportunities and looks very promising.
The data science industry has the potential to revolutionize all sectors including healthcare, finance, marketing, retail, etc. and as technology advances, the industry will be growing even further. One thing that organizations need to take care of is the privacy and security of data. Ethical considerations and implications of using data are very important. So, they are hiring skilled data science professionals, equipped with the latest and in-demand data science skills. It will become the responsibility of all data science professionals to look after the proper use of data and data science tools.
