Business Business.- Demand for Peruvians who choose professional careers Data Science is experiencing exponential growth. According to reports “The State of Data Science and AI Hiring 2023” from Burning Glass Technologies, the average annual growth rate of jobs in this field nationally is 34%, slightly exceeding the global growth rate of 28%.

In numbers, this means that the number of jobs in Data Science worldwide has increased from 2.2 million in 2018 to 4.2 million in 2023. In Peru, it has increased from 5,000 in 2018 to 17,000 in 2023. As for Specializations in this career field that are experiencing greater demand in terms of hiring in Latin America include Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, Data Analytics, and Data Visualization.

According to Alan Ferrandiz, Professor of Data Science at Continental University of Florida, the importance of the Data Science profession in various economic sectors cannot be underestimated. Real examples of significant improvements thanks to the application of Data Science techniques include:

1. Health. In personalized medicine, Data Science techniques are used to identify more effective treatments, increasing diagnostic accuracy by 20%, according to a Harvard Business Review study.
2. Finance. In banking, Data Science techniques help predict customer delinquencies and detect online fraud 90% of the time, according to a study conducted by the United States Federal Trade Commission.
3. Retail trade. Data Science techniques are applied to recommend products to customers based on their purchasing history, thereby increasing sales by 10%, according to McKinsey & Company.
4. Manufacture. Data Science is used to monitor machines and detect potential problems, increasing productivity by 10%, according to Gartner.
5. Energy. Data Science techniques allow you to monitor energy usage and predict future demand, which can reduce energy consumption by 10%, according to Gartner.

Opportunities abroad

The CUF Data Science Professor explains that in the United States, the average salary range associated with the Data Science specialization varies widely, ranging between USD 12,000 and USD 25,000 per month. This range depends on factors such as the experience, skills and location of the professional in question.

“In academia, the United States leads in the number of Data Science-related degree programs, with more than 1,000 programs including master’s, doctoral, and professional degree programs. “The most common curricular focus in these programs is machine learning, which trains students in the use of techniques to extract knowledge from large amounts of data, in addition to other fundamental areas of Data Science such as statistics, data mining, and data visualization,” commented a CUF spokesperson.

Other countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India have also experienced significant growth in Data Science related degree programs, with curricular approaches similar to those in the United States.

Lastly, with regards to ethics in data analysis, a study conducted by the International Business Analysts Association (BIAA) in 2022 revealed that 97% of Data Science professionals consider it important to address privacy and bias in their projects. This high percentage reflects awareness of the importance of ethics in data analysis among professionals in this field.