Talent connection in practice: how SAS is working with BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo
For some ten years now, we have known that there was a worldwide shortage of data science talent. However, the data science and analytics world has not stood around wringing its hands. Instead, various players have been working to increase the number of data scientists, and find alternatives to individual expertise, or ways to increase the usability of analytics.
For example, companies like SAS have been working to produce analytics software that is more user-friendly. Options like ‘drag and drop’ interfaces have opened up access to analytics to a much wider range of employees, with the consequent rise of ‘citizen data scientists’, business users who can do some of their own analytics without needing access to data scientists.
At the same time, universities have ramped up their provision of analytics teaching and courses. They are turning out more graduates with the necessary skills—but employers have continued to complain that these graduates were not ‘work-ready’. How, then, can the analytics world help to ensure that graduates can hit the ground running?
Building links between business and academia
One possible answer is building stronger links between academic institutions and industry. At SAS, we have a broad academic programme, and we are actively building new relationships all the time. These help build and nurture analytics talent in a wide range of ways. For example, running seasonal schools gives students a chance to spend a few days learning more about analytics, and build up some contacts. Supporting academic competitions can also help students to get experience of using analytical software with real world data. One example is a recent partnership with Warsaw University of Technology to support a student team building and fine-tuning a motorbike. Several of the teams at the SAS Hackathon each year are also composed of students building their analytical skills.
Closer to home for me, SAS also has an ongoing relationship with the BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo. Over the last four years, we have helped to set up internships for students on the MSc in Business Analytics at the business school. The internships last 10 weeks, and are an integral part of the course. The students work in pairs, with access to the latest incarnation of SAS Viya. They are also supported by SAS employees from several different departments, who provide additional expertise where necessary.
This year’s internships are with a telecommunications company, a healthcare organisation and a freight and logistics provider. These sound very different, but they all share a common feature: all the interns will be helping SAS customers or potential customers to start using a new platform or technology. Two of the host organisations are current SAS customers, and one is not yet a customer, so the interns will be helping to demonstrate proof of potential value.
Building win–win situations
These internships offer real potential wins for everyone concerned:
- The interns experience using real-world data in a real-world situation, and find out about some of the issues this creates. They can also make contacts within SAS and within the industry that will stand them in good stead in the next few years. These are cutting-edge technologies, and the skills the students develop will be very valuable.
- The host organisations get help with their new technology or platform. They can see how they will be able to get value, and they don’t have to divert established employees from other projects to get the new technology embedded. They also build relationships with young talent that they may go on to employ in due course.
- SAS gets value from supporting new clients to onboard and embed new technology, and insights into the process of onboarding. The internships offer a ‘halfway house’ between a fully-supported and unsupported onboarding. They allow SAS to support the students to use and showcase new capabilities on SAS Viya, increasing the likely impact of the technology.
Connecting talent with opportunities
The key to a successful academic/industry partnership—such as this one with BI Norwegian Business School—seems to be connecting young talent with organisations that need support, and will also have future job opportunities for analysts. The two elements are equally important. To add value for our customers, we need to be able to supply good candidates. To add value for the students and university, our customers must be able to supply good placements. It is a win–win—and the results show the value to everyone.
