Using Data Skills to Unlock Decision-making and an Economic Recovery for India

The complexity of digital business is increasing: the competition is fiercer, business dynamics are constantly changing, and the explosion in data can prove more confusing than enlightening. This undoubtedly makes decision-making harder when supported only by traditional processes and business intelligence tools.

The new digital age calls for a new form of Active Intelligence; we need to find a way to bring together the wealth of real-time, hyper-contextual data while building on the most powerful human capabilities of experience, collaboration, and even scepticism. The shift in decision-making that this new digital age of business has catalyzed won't happen overnight, but success will undoubtedly favor the early adopter.

But how will this be even possible without a data literate workforce?

Even before the pandemic, there were concerns about the gaps in education and training for children and young people. But in the words of UNICEF, COVID-19 has "exacerbated the learning crisis". One in seven children globally has missed more than three-quarters of their in-person education.

The ramifications are significant – for young people's personal development, for their ability to acquire skills, and for the impact, this will have on the global workforce and, by extension, the economy. So, it is little wonder that many are warning of a generation lost to the pandemic and how this disruption might impact their ability to support the economic recovery.

As the UN notes, "In post-COVID-19 societies, as young people are called upon to contribute to the recovery effort, they will need to be equipped with the skills to successfully manage evolving challenges and the resilience to adapt to future disruptions." This underpins why we must consider exactly what skills young people require and where the responsibility lies in ensuring they have the opportunity to develop them.

A new set of skills

For everyone else, the events of the last year have been a steep learning curve. Whether to take advantage of the unique opportunities of the time or simply ensure survival, businesses have needed to make faster decisions to adapt to the rapidly evolving situation.

Businesses are therefore relying increasingly heavily on their capacity to realize the value of the data they hold. To do that, they need workforces equipped to read, understand, question, and work with data – to be data literate. Yet the Qlikand Accenture's Human Impact of Data Literacy report revealed that "only 16% of employees below the junior manager level felt fully prepared to use data effectively when entering their current role."

This shows that what employers need, and what new joiners can offer, are often quite far apart when it comes to data literacy. If people are entering the workforce ill-equipped, does this limit the ability of the business world to recover and build the resilience to adapt to future disruptions? And to fix this, do we need to look back in their development pathway to empower them with the necessary data skills?

Everyone has responsibility

Those considering answers to these questions will naturally look to the education system. However, upskilling the workers of tomorrow is a joint responsibility taken on by educational institutions, businesses, and governments:

1. Increase the focus on vocational training: There has long been a stigma when it comes to vocational training. In some higher educational institutions, the thought of providing students with transferable skills was at best an afterthought or a side-effect of academic education. However, more universities, colleges, and schools are realizing that they have a role to fill in preparing students more directly for the world of work.

2. Building digital and data skills into the curriculum:  Just like many international business schools that teach their curriculum in English, allowing students an opportunity to learn a key global language before graduating, embedding data skills into the existing core curriculum will ready graduates for when they enter the workplace. Some institutions have made this a priority including IIM-Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, IIT-Madras, Bombay, Roorkee, and Kharagpur which have all come on board as part of the Qlik Academic Program last year. Through the program, students can be prepared for the modern workplace by having access to free Qlik software and resources to learn and become comfortable with using data.

3. Continuous education for graduates: That said, the onus is not exclusively on the education system. Businesses must also look at how they upskill young workers in data and other digital skills, whether graduates or other junior hires that don't have a relevant grounding in these areas. This could be through workplace training designed and developed in-house; it could also be a best-of-both model that integrates the excellence of academic learning with applied real-life situations

Equipping future generations

Every young person should have the right to a rewarding, enriching career. In an increasingly data-centric world, they need to be taught the relevant skills to enjoy that right – something that has been prevented by the pandemic learning crisis. This means ensuring that the education they receive, whether from formal institutions or on the job, evolves alongside technological advances and the speed of business decision-making.

As Active Intelligence becomes a reality for more businesses, the world needs people who can quickly understand information, adapt to changing situations and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Although the path back from the pandemic will require many things, those countries that can equip young people with relevant skills for the modern enterprise will set a platform for productivity and economic growth.

Author: Varun Babbar, Managing Director, Qlik India