Without a doubt, managing massive amounts of data has become both a challenge and a major opportunity for professionals and companies alike. That is why more and more organizations are investing in training their employees in Big Data.
In this context, Universidad ORT Uruguay the opportunity to pursue the Master’s in Big Data, a program designed to train professionals who are highly skilled in the theory and practice of this technology. In 2020, amid so much change and uncertainty, the first class of students from this graduate program at ORT graduated.
What was your experience like? How did it benefit you professionally? What advice would you give to those interested in pursuing a career in Big Data? Three of the graduates answered these questions.
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A competitive advantage
Deborah Biardo holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and recently completed a master’s degree in Big Data at ORT. In her view, this new degree opens many doors for her professionally: “Big Data is a technology that can be applied to all kinds of activities“in any country and in both salaried and self-employed roles. There are so many alternatives that it’s impossible to envision a single application scenario in the workplace,” he explains.Although she already had some knowledge in the field when she started the program at ORT, that didn’t stop her from getting the most out of the course: “I learned new concepts, clarified my understanding, and grasped various processes. I also acquired specific, up-to-date technical and technological tools for working with large volumes of data,” she says.
According to Biardo, it is currently essential for companies to have staff trained in these areas. This gives companies a significant competitive advantage.
When asked what he valued most about the Master’s in Big Data, he highlights three main aspects: the program’s practical focus, the faculty—whom he considers to have extensive professional experience and in-depth knowledge of the subject—and the opportunity to step outside his comfort zone to learn new things.
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Many doors opening
Sabrina Lanzotti holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and currently works at Atos, an information technology and services company. After earning her master's degree in Big Data from ORT, Lanzotti joined the company's Artificial Intelligence division, in addition to fulfilling her role as a DevSecOps specialist.
When it comes to her experience, the recent graduate not only highlights the academic benefits of the program but also emphasizes her personal growth, despite the unique circumstances of 2020. “Since this is a program that brings together many different professional backgrounds, it’s easy to interact with others and build a broad and valuable network,” she explains.
In this regard, Lanzotti highlights the importance of hands-on work in multidisciplinary teams and describes the Master’s in Big Data program as “a highly enriching opportunity that opens many new doors.”
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The trend that's here to stay
“Working as a team to develop a model applicable in the real world as part of my thesis project was one of the key benefits of the Master’s in Big Data,” says Guzmán González, who is currently a Business Analytics Consultant at Quanam.
González has been with the company since 2017, and it was there that his interest in pursuing a career at ORT began to take shape.Today, he is applying what he has learned to his daily work. “Right now, thanks to my master’s degree in Big Data, I’m working as a data scientist on a project involving predictive models through the development of neural networks,” he says.
According to González, companies with staff trained in fields related to Big Data are able to handle large volumes of data or develop machine learning models to predict variables or interests, for example. For this reason, he believes that more and more companies are seeking solutions related to Big Data and data science, and he thinks this trend is here to stay.