PwC Builds First data Academy, plans Labour Export

• PwC Builds First data Academy, plans Labour Export

Pricewaterhouse Coopers says its data academy, the first in Nigeria, will help the country begin the export of labour by equipping people with enough skills in data analytics.

The company said on Monday that the first academic session at the academy would commence on January 28, 2018 and would run throughout the year.

The PwC said that it took the decision to build the academy because many Nigerians did not understand what data meant to their businesses.

The Partner, Data and Analytics, PwC West Africa, Mr. Femi Osinubi, said, “We are looking at data analysis. It is the now, not even the future. The intention is that we want to start from the base to build expertise in this area.

“We have few people in this country who are skilled when it comes to understanding data as well as data analytics, so we believe the academy will bridge that knowledge gap around analytics.”

He added, “We think we will be the first to be starting a data academy in this part of the world and by doing so, that knowledge gap can actually be bridged.

“We cannot avoid the world that we are in – the digital world. To run government and private companies now, data is actually needed.”

Osinubi said that the proper usage of data and data analytics helped American data experts to discover 33,000 leaked mails from former presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton’s email account.

He stated, “Some people in Nigeria wondered how the data experts were able to get so much insight, but they failed to realise that the United States of America’s environment hovers around analytics.

“For instance, in applying for the US visa these days, they will ask you for your social media account. Even if you do not give them, they know a lot about you before you get to their embassy, because they are the data. They have huge volume of data. That is the power of data.

“We need to equip people in this part of the world with data, so that they will be able to use data and analytics to improve their business and whatever they are doing for themselves.”