Course summary

Almost every communication or interaction that takes place in the world today involves a digital interface, whether this is a computer, a laptop, a mobile phone, a smartcard, a camera or a sensor. These interactions are stored as data which can be mined to make better decisions, systems and research. Recent advances in computational power, machine intelligence and the massive growth of sources of data has led to the development of a new area study: Data Science. We are no longer looking machine parts or airlines, or stocks and shares data; we are looking at data about people and the world they inhabit. Jake Porway (Executive Director of DataKind) says: “A data scientist is a rare hybrid, a computer scientist with the programming abilities to build software to scrape, combine, and manage data from a variety of sources and a statistician who knows how to derive insights from the information within. S/he combines the skills to create new prototypes with the creativity and thoroughness to ask and answer the deepest questions about the data and what secrets it”. This programme is designed for such people. This course is built around the strong skill base of experts in the Mathematics and Computer Science department and to illustrate how new technologies, cutting edge research and novel scientific perspectives can be used together to influence future society in significant and fundamental ways.