Posted August 3rd, 2021 for RENCI
Published: August 3, 2021
Annual short-course series aims to bridge the data literacy gap
Now in its eighth year, Data Matters 2021, a week-long series of one and two-day courses aimed at students and professionals in business, research, and government, will take place August 9 – 13 virtually via Zoom. The short course series is sponsored by the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at UNC-Chapel Hill , the National Consortium for Data Science , and RENCI .
Although the need for data literacy has grown exponentially for employers over the last few years, many academic institutions are struggling to keep up. According to a 2021 report from Forrester , 81% of recruiters rated data skills and data literacy as important capabilities for candidates, while only 48% of academic planners reported that their institution currently has specific data skills initiatives set up. Data Matters helps bridge this gap by providing attendees the chance to learn about a wide range of topics in data science, analytics, visualization, curation, and more from expert instructors.