Closing the data literacy gap

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While data is an invaluable source of knowledge that we can apply to improve and optimize a multitude of processes, it is of little use if there is no analyst interpreting and questioning what the data shows. What we call Data Literacy has become one of the most sought-after skills in the Business Intelligence (BI) job market .

In this article, we will delve into the importance of digging into information to obtain a real competitive advantage with business analytics and what companies should do about it.

What does it consist of?
Data literacy defines the ability to derive meaningful information from data, interpret visualizations such as graphs and charts, and think critically about the information produced. It relies on a basic skill in mathematics, statistics, and analysis.

In corporate organizations there are different stages of application:

Data is collected and fed into a computer or information kazakhstan number data processing system. It allows the company to study information through electronic means.
After the information is encoded, multiple statistical techniques are applied to the data. This action allows specialists to discover various categories of relationships between discrete elements in a data set.
Data is analyzed qualitatively or quantitatively in an attempt to generate business insights.
The importance of asking
Thanks to Big Data and the various ways available to collect data, companies now have the opportunity to know why they get the results they get in order to run their businesses as efficiently as possible. Having people capable of taking data sets and, from them, asking the right questions to be able to make decisions, implies a great competitive advantage in the current context.

Self-service analytics is not enough
Companies are increasingly aware of the importance of bringing data to all levels of the organization. Most of them choose to implement self-service analysis platforms , assuming that users will know what to do with the data.

However, making data more accessible is often not enough when users are not minimally trained to understand, use, question and effectively communicate what the attractive visualizations of these tools present to them. This deficiency in data literacy is what is preventing many companies from fully exploiting the true benefits that their data contains . In certain cases, technology alone is not enough to solve an educational problem.

How to close the data literacy gap?
Unfortunately, data is growing faster than our ability to use it. Although many universities are already including Business Intelligence (BI) and business analytics programs in their academic offerings, companies do not have time to wait for the new generation of data-literate professionals to enter the labor market. Given this situation, we offer you 4 key points to consider so that your employees have the minimum set of skills to work with data:

1- Know the business data sets
Since every business deals with a unique set of data and standards, employees must be familiar with the terms that define those data sets. Basic knowledge of statistics, correlation, and the ability to differentiate between qualitative and quantitative data is also important.

2- Assimilate data
Before performing an analysis, it is important to evaluate the visualization you are working on to identify inconsistencies or missing data.