Universities must equip their students to operate in a data-driven business landscape

As we enter a new decade, it’s truer than ever that data will continue to shape all of our decision making.

Whether in our politics or our businesses, the winners in our new world will be the ones who can innovate and create value using a data-driven approach.

Being data literate will affect the productivity and efficiency of an organisation and so it is no surprise that businesses of all sizes are turning to universities to equip graduates to handle data before they reach their desks.

So what exactly is data literacy and why should it be at the heart of university curricula?

Data literacy is the ability to read, write and communicate with data in context. Nearly every business deals with a large amount of data and, as graduates enter the workplace, it should not be taken for granted that data literacy is something that develops throughout their career.

The United Kingdom is currently facing a critical skills gap when it comes to data literacy. Many businesses are struggling to achieve the digital transformation expected in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, simply because their staff aren’t equipped to turn raw mounds of data into ready-to-use insights. Our own recent research in partnership with Accenture found that only 17% of UK employees felt they were fully prepared to use data effectively in their current role. As the UK faces political and economic uncertainty, businesses need to be operating at their most competitive, in order to combat any disruption in the coming months and years.

But ultimately, who is responsible for ensuring people are able to handle data in their professional lives?

Yet, it’s not just students who should be equipped with the tools necessary to learn how to harness data, it is the teaching staff too. In order for the next generation of graduates to understand and appreciate data literacy, they need to be taught by people who have the skills already in place. The need for data analysis skills is important in today’s working world but this is a relatively new requirement.

This is just an example of the ways to set young people up to successfully interact with the data and it is key that global education systems recognise and adapt to empower students of today to become data literate.

Action must be taken as data literacy will only continue to rise in importance and companies and organisations will come to rely on data more and more when it comes to informing decision-making. It is crucial then that higher education institutions are helping to create a new wave of employees who have the autonomy over how they use data in their jobs and reap its rewards. Embracing the opportunity now will give companies an advantage as we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution and battle with an economic and business environment characterised by uncertainty.

Kevin Hanegan, Chief Learning Officer at Qlik