British Prime Minister Theresa May made it clear that her ambition is for the UK to become the global beacon for innovation in artificial intelligence when she spoke at the Annual General Meeting of the World Economic Forum earlier this year. Great news, then, that two UK master’s in data science programmes placed in the QS World University Rankings global top 10.

According to Glassdoor research both in 2016 and 2017, data science is in very high demand. It claimed top spot in Glassdoor’s Best Jobs in America report, with similar popularity levels here. Probably because it is one of the highest paying fields at entry level and offers careers for a broad range of skills, from mathematicians to big data specialists and researchers. And with increasing digitisation and demand for organisations to be more data-driven, it would seem to offer excellent long-term job security.

This means competition for data scientists and related professionals is currently exceptionally high. So where are some of the best places for government organisations to acquire fresh skills? We suggest taking a close look at the two UK universities whose master’s courses in data science rank in the QS World University Rankings guide – and are also sponsored by SAS.

These are Warwick and Manchester business schools, two establishments SAS has long relationships with, ensuring that students graduate having used SAS® software in project and dissertation work. The relationship encompasses SAS guest lectures, prizes for top students and hackathons, engagement in employer events, and sponsorship of lecturers as thought leaders in the SAS ecosystem.

Not only will you be acquiring top-notch data science skills, you will be bringing on board professionals trained in cutting-edge analytics, who are going to be your AI force of the future. They will help to transform your organisation by implementing AI capabilities, along with an advanced analytics platform that is open, governable, scalable and designed for the data evolution era.

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By using SAS® Viya®, people can benefit from speed and resiliency that allows collaboration and realisation of innovative results, faster. Your people, new and existing, who are not familiar with the platform, can work in the coding language of their choice, and compare models written in SAS or other languages. It will allow you to drive new insights and make better decisions.

If you’d like to know more about how SAS is supporting organisations to implement AI and develop the new generation of data scientists, please visit our Public Sector page.