CIO

Programme aims to meet critical skills for the 4th industrial revolution

Organisations increasingly acknowledge data to be their most important asset, having these skills that can best capitalise on that asset is critical, says Ian Edwards of SAS

SAS says more than 165,000 information technology professionals in 112 countries have qualified for its internationally recognised certification in business analytics and related skills since it established the programme 20 years ago. 

“Workplace demand for such skills has never been higher and the pace of demand is fast increasing,” says Ian Edwards, head of academic outreach at SAS Australia and New Zealand. 

“As we say at SAS, ‘analytics is an essential part of the fourth industrial revolution’,” says Edwards. “As organisations of every type and size increasingly acknowledge their data to be their most important asset, having the analytics skills that can best capitalise on that asset is critical.”

Recognising that SAS skills are keenly sought by employers, he says over 30 Australian and New Zealand universities teach with SAS analytics technologies and education materials as part of their degree courses.

Many of these courses give students the opportunity to qualify for either SAS Global Certification or joint Certification credentials, including those at Massey University, Auckland University of Technology,  La Trobe University, UTS,, University of South Australia, James Cook University, University of Queensland, Swinburne University, UNSW and Melbourne Business School. 

He says certification courses available range from data engineering through business intelligence, predictive analytics and machine learning.

The benefits of the certification extend long beyond satisfactory completion of a course and employment in, or promotion to, a data scientist role, he states. 

“All our SAS graduates are listed in the SAS Certified Professionals Directory. This is a public registry which is accessed by organisations and recruitment agencies seeking to fill high-paying analytics jobs in a market where demand significantly outstrips supply.”

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