Who are the new generation thinkers in analytics?
I am - I must face it - too old to party, and I don’t watch TV. I spend my evenings mostly sitting quietly: reading or crafting, perhaps listening to audiobooks and podcasts. Some of my favourite podcasts are from the BBC, especially those featuring the New Generation Thinkers.
New Generation Thinkers is a collaborative initiative between BBC Radio 3 and the UK-based Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) aimed at discovering and nurturing early-career researchers with innovative ideas that have the potential to resonate with a wide audience. The program provides these researchers with an opportunity to communicate their research and ideas by making programs for BBC radio, as well as gaining access to unique training and support from both AHRC and the BBC.
Every year, a UK-wide search is conducted to identify young academics who demonstrate the ability to communicate complex ideas in an engaging manner, and who conduct research on timely and relevant issues. Those who are selected as New Generation Thinkers become public ambassadors for their fields, sharing their knowledge and insights through various media channels and public events.
I would love to see something similar for the data and analytics space, as I fear the new generation of thinkers in our field is limited in opportunity for influence (if not for salary) at exactly the time when we are facing a dramatic inflection in the trajectory of data and analytics in the business and public spheres.
Beyond the reach of the career ladder
It’s a great thing to see so many women actively influential in the data and analytics space. It’s still not enough - and the miserable experience of too many women in our industry can still shock me.
Minorities are woefully under-represented. I don’t just mean racial or sexual minorities. How many events have more than basic services available for the disabled, the blind or deaf? How many vendors pay attention to them? And there’s a one-sidedness of North American and European perspectives that stands as a real failure in our work.
We lack talent from regions such as South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
I am sure people will say that India is well-represented in tech in general, which is fair if you think of development and testing and in consulting. But in thought leadership, especially in analytics, I see relatively few Indian people, representing relatively little of subcontinent’s own diversity.
China, of course, is a powerhouse of technological development but has been quite far behind in data and analytics for business with few internationally leading thinkers. There are political reasons for some of this, no doubt, but there are many Chinese technologists active in the US and Europe who do not have the influence they should.
What can we do?
Career progression is not enough. Influence is not bought by salary but wrought from a constant engagement with the community of practice. For many brilliant tech people, their influence in the wider world is limited by the demands of narrowly-focussed technical careers.
I do not believe it is enough to wait for these young people to grow into late-career influencers. We need the best intellects and the greatest diversity of experiences - from women, minorities and emerging economies - influencing our industry right now.
Analyst firms, big consultancies, and major vendors have a unique opportunity to foster the growth and development of young talent in the data and analytics industry. By leveraging their resources, networks, and influence, these organizations can play a crucial role in supporting and promoting the next generation of analysts and influencers. This can be achieved through various initiatives, such as awards for new talent, presentation opportunities, fellowships and grants for research, and networking and mentorship programs.
In fact I would love to see someone take on the challenge of developing something like the New Generation Thinkers program for data and analytics.
Creating such initiatives can significantly benefit the data analytics field by nurturing young talent and fostering innovation. What could we do?
I would suggest that vendors, analyst companies and media outlets could collaborate in several ways:
Awards for new talent: Create annual awards recognizing young data and analytics professionals who demonstrate exceptional skills, innovative thinking, and significant contributions to the data analytics field.
Fellowships and grants: Establish fellowships and grants targeted specifically at early-career professionals. Funding opportunities to enable young analysts to pursue innovative research, learn new techniques, and develop groundbreaking technologies in the data analytics field. These grants could be specifically focussed on topics which vendors find difficult to fund with limited budgets … support for users with disabilities or perhaps features specifically geared to emerging economies,
Networking and mentorship programs: Develop networking and mentorship programs to connect young professionals with experienced analysts and influencers. These programs will provide guidance, support, and collaboration opportunities, helping the next generation of data analysts learn from the experts and grow in their careers.
Showcases: Highlight the work of young professionals in the field. Interviews, podcasts, articles, and other formats can be used to call attention the achievements and ideas of the next generation of data analysts, ensuring that their voices are heard and their contributions acknowledged.
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What do you think? Could we make this happen? Who would step up?
My heart so agrees with your desire to witness a new generation of creative thinkers & doers whom seize that responsibility of thought leadership in analytics. Despite gender, racial, and cultural barriers, there is enormous creativity and motivation within this younger generation. Yet I not seeing those younger creatives in action. Maybe I am looking through ancient glasses for images of the 1970s. Or, it maybe that effective thought leadership is much more difficult or even impossible.
There is so much happening technology-wise that my mind quickly turns to mush. We humans have been so successful that we may have create a world that exceeds our intellectual capabilities to understand this world. As a cherry on the ice cream, we even created an artificial intelligence that we are unable to understand completely and govern properly. It is no wonder that the new generation of creative thought leaders are confused and ineffective.