Big data demands creating greater push for higher education IT programs

Companies are abuzz about big data. They are snapping up solutions and investing heavily in data quality tools that can put insightful answers in their hands at just the right moment, so they no longer need to rely on hunches for important decision making.

Higher education programs have heard this demand loud and clear, according to ComputerWorld. To make sure there are enough industry experts to smooth out these strategies, colleges are creating specialized departments that will provide them with the skills they need to succeed in the field.

These preemptive measures could offset a deficit of between 140,000 and 190,000 IT data specialists needed by 2018, according to a study released last year by the McKinsey Global Institute. New York University's Stern School of Business, the University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Business and Michigan State University are three colleges listed by Computerworld that have already begun, or plan to begin, offering business analytics programs.

"There's no question that the No. 1 requirement [for] enterprises that are serious about gaining a competitive advantage using data and analytics is going to be the talent to run that program," Jack Phillips, CEO of the research firm International Institute for Analytics (IIA), told the source in a separate article.