New startup aims to help solve the shortage of data scientists

Whilst the use of big data is gaining traction around the world, one of the things that’s likely to hold back development is a shortage of qualified data scientists. By 2018, the demand for data scientists is predicted to exceed supply by about 50 to 60 percent according to a recent McKinsey study.

Austrian startup company Knoyd is aiming to disrupt the process of training and hiring data scientists by launching BaseCamp, a data science bootcamp. It will allow prospective data scientists to learn and train on real companies' problems and will prepare them for an exciting data science career.

During eight full-time weeks, participants in the first BaseCamp in Vienna will become familiar with all the necessary skills to allow them to become a valuable part of any data science team. Disciplines include: programming (R, Python, or Spark), data engineering (databases, APIs), machine learning, and business aspects of data science. They will also be able to show their skills to potential future employers, while working on their project.

The company's vision is that when BaseCamp is well established in Vienna, it will launch in other cities across the globe. "The next batch may start in Asia -- or why not in South America? Sooner or later data scientists will be needed everywhere where business is done. But for the moment, our primary focus stays in Vienna and on the first batch." says Juraj Kapasny, CSO of Knoyd. "We want our participants to learn directly on the problems of real companies, including deadlines, presentations, and discussing business requirements. This is the only way to effectively learn how to do data science in a business setting".

BaseCamp will be accepting applications for the first batch of places in Vienna until August 31st 2016, and participants will then be chosen. You can find out more on the company's website.

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