To win the race of adopting technology, business should start with a data program

Data programs are becoming more and more necessary in an organisation. Without a data program, business might struggle to survive in the tech era. Henceforth, it is mandatory to map the need for data and draw a framework to get meaningful insights.

Data-driven culture is spiking in the business sector. To win the race of adopting disruptive technologies, business organisations should be stable in its stand in claiming and maintaining a good data program. The initiative not just involves big data of a company; it is more about the embrace of the new technology by everyone starting from employees to the leaders. Every organisation needs to be data insightful to be competitive. For that, everyone should first wipe out the mythical thought that data culture might kick-out employees from an organisation. Rather, data programs provide the workers with tools and information which could minimize their work and help them be more effective in their roles.

Data programs are diverse in their respective objectives. There is nothing like a single concept of data program that could be adopted by all organisations. Initiating a data framework will vary depending on universal factors like industry, company, size and team structure. Henceforth, it is essential to stick to a plan before investing vaguely on data tools and technology.

Here are some basic tips to implement a data program

Starting with a Strategic plan

There are two primary ways to start a data program. When organisations want to build a data program on large data or big data, it is safe to start with the top-down approach. The move involves not implementing the data strategy to every sector, but to start from the top teams in the organisation. Later, the plan can slowly be moved downwards and be used in all the teams. This is a strategic approach towards data adoption.

The second kind of appeal is the bottom-up approach where generally raising the capabilities and skill levels of all employees in a data and analytics career path is addressed. This step focuses on making everyone learn the impacts and step-by-step approach towards data program. Another out of the box way is to look for an expert in different technology and analytics areas, to whom the company can clarify their existing plan and ask for ideas to better the framework.

Choosing the Right Personas

Organisations use various data-related personas like a data consumer, leader, data analyst, citizen data scientist, data scientist, data engineer, database administrator, statistician, machine learning scientist and programmer to address the data program. As each organisation has different approach and relationship with the stored data, it is essential to choose perfect personas that could help them while building a data program.

Data scientist and actuaries are the two major personas working on converging the skills required to further the business. Teaching actuaries some of the statistical machine learning techniques can help them to apply the strategy in their actuarial processes.

Addressing the Skill Gap of each Persona

Acknowledging the skill gap between personas is the best thing to do once everything is set to take off from the ground. A good move could be asking the consumers to take a broad inventory of their in-house data skills using a skill matrix. This move will clearly portray the skill gaps at the organisation, department, team or individual level. For Data Consumers and Leaders, skills needed for success include soft skills like communication, understanding data visualization, and design thinking.

Here are some of the basic key aspects that could bring a relevant answer to address the area of shortage.

• Find what consumers need to know about data program
• Express the company's willingness to provide initial training, hiring, skill development and project-based work
• Acknowledge the moves to align these capabilities with the strategic project

Extending a Skill Assessment Course

A holistic learning approach requires using design thinking to create an effective learning journey. It is all about building technical skills and business skills. To help organizations discover their team's data skill level across personas, online platforms offer skill audit where individuals take signal skill assessments to track their own progress. After assessing skills, they can build custom tracks for the baseline skill level required of their persona or role.