The big data wave is surging through every sector — and profound digital transformations are making it mandatory to leverage analytics. So says Massimo Beduschi, Italian CEO of WPP, the world’s biggest advertising behemoth.

“It has made profound transformations necessary in work processes and, above all else, in the training of new professional figures who are able to anticipate and lead the change,” Massimo exclaims.

The data revolution, which IDC reckons represents $41 billion in revenue opportunities, has WPP so hyped that it is investing in training digital leaders at a top European business school. If the hyperbole around big data is to be believed, then the education of the world’s future business leaders must change — rapidly.

There is a savage shortage of digital talent, from consulting and technology to banking and finance, according to study by Capgemini, the consultancy. McKinsey estimates 1.5 million more data managers will be required by 2018 in the US alone.

That’s why the Sloan School of Management, at US university MIT, a cacophony of tech and science innovation, launched a master’s in business analytics.

“There is a generational issue. Most senior deans and professors are not ‘digital natives’. They are baby boomers,” says Jim Hamill, head of digital leadership at University of Edinburgh Business School.

 Schools are relying on partnerships to address the divide. Imperial College Business School, which runs a business analytics degree, partnered KPMG to launch the Data Observatory. “Big data is changing the way everyone operates and for businesses to compete in a globalized economy, they need to be able to make sense of all the valuable information,” says Imperial’s dean, G Anandalingam.

Source: http://www.businessbecause.com/