What is Data Science?
Visualise a Vincent Van Gogh painting. From close up, all the miniature paint strokes appear to amount to nothing –then you zoom out and you see it, the big picture. All these details come together to form a magnificent work of art. That’s exactly what data science does: it discovers hidden patterns in large datasets, using technology, brainpower and the wealth of the data itself.
Today, this ability is more important than ever. Big Data is everywhere. The whole world is changing because of innovations that rely on gathering, storing and analysing data, along with designing and developing apps and visualisations for it. All your apps – Uber, Google Maps, Snapchat – make use of data. But it’s bigger than that. Thanks to data science, airlines are able to offer different prices per person, per moment, per location. Thanks to data science, an A.I. lawyer can understand and read juridical contracts. Thanks to data science, medical images can be automatically analysed.
There are three main drivers for the huge success of data science:
- Access to consumers worldwide, thanks to smartphones;
- Faster computers and lower storage costs;
- More clever algorithms that enable work with unstructured data.
It’s clear then. There’s a revolution going on. As a data scientist you’ll be in the middle of it.
Useful skills if you want to study data science
Data science is not the same as computer science. It’s more than just programming. It’s a mix of computer science, analytics and several other domains (like business, life sciences, humanities).
If you want to study data science, it’s very useful that you…
- … are able to think in a structured away
- … like to solve big data related questions
- … are inquisitive, creative and an out-of-the-box thinker
- … are good at mathematics
- … have some knowledge of programming
The Amsterdam School of Data Science offers you an education in all data-science-related disciplines. When you graduate, you will be able to help solve the complex issues facing our data-driven society.
Our multidisciplinary team has strengths in many key data science domains, specifically Business, Humanities, Informatics, and Life Sciences.