According to an article that appeared January 12, 2012 in the Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/chrystia-freeland/the-big-data-revolutions-lovely-and-lousy-jobs/article2300472/) we are at the beginning of yet another technological revolution that will change our lives, and more importantly our jobs. This latest transformation is being referred to as ‘big data.’ We may not be aware quite how much data is intertwined with our daily lives – from a purchase on Amazon to a trip to the local rec centre, we interact with data and databases almost constantly. While big data can increase an operation’s profit margins, the article suggests this new ‘revolution’ will have a mixed impact on workers – resulting in “lousy and lovely jobs.” ‘Lovely’ well-paying jobs will go to one of the 140,000-190,000 graduates with mathematical and analytical minds who have been trained to deal with tremendous amounts of data. What about the rest of us? Apparently we will be “scrubbing floors and wiping tables.”
This article got me thinking about the future of the job market for a new graduate such as myself. I often hear there are no jobs to be had, so with this new data revolution should I expect the worst? I am certainly not of an analytical or mathematical mind. Should I enroll in a computer programming class in an effort to attain a much sought after ‘lovely’ job? Certainly there are jobs out there for all kinds of expertise and I have no doubt that the food system issues I am studying now will be at the forefront in coming years – so I’ll save the computer programming for when I’m really desperate. For now, my solution is to get a general, but firm, understanding of the role data plays in our lives. For my directed studies I plan to develop a simple database in an effort to garner an even better understanding of what this ‘big data’ revolution is all about.
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