Data ScienceTech Institute – A Pragmatic Hub of Continuous Data Learning

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2020 has literally been the slowest of years for various industries, and sectors, due to the current pandemic affecting all our lives. Also, with the national lockdown imposed on us, we as Indians had to witness our education system undergo major setbacks, which resulted in students losing a lot of time, and the rise of uncertainty was at an all-time high. Only thing going on for everyone during the time of crisis was data and its applications in our day to day lives, helping us return to normalcy one step at a time. Understanding the applications of data and implementing it in literally every aspect of functioning of regular lives has become important, and thus, the demand for trained data experts is at an all-time high.

Moreover, with data science aspirants looking out for dream destinations to pursue their respective careers, France is perhaps the most apt country in terms of quality teaching/learning in almost every field of academics. Consequently, one such France based institution which proudly boasts of setting an example to its fellow competitors in terms of becoming a place for exemplary data-science related academics Data ScienceTech Institute (DSTI), comes as a ray of hope even during these gloomy times of turmoil.

 A French Higher Education school specialised in Data-centric concepts, the Applied programmes are French Government accredited (RNCP) at Level 7 (Master’s) of European Qualifications Framework. Founded in 2015, DSTI welcomes around 200 students per year coming from more than 45 nationalities. The figures may look small, but DSTI is the largest “data” post-masters level “producers” in France. Having its main goal to train students in the best way possible to reach their professional goals and to be the exact reflection of employers’ and market needs, the Applied MSc programmes offered at the institute are the most intensive in the market and are designed to prepare them for jobs related to Data Analytics, Data Science, Al and Big Data. Furthermore, driven by an expert council, from the professional and academic world, the programmes allow students to work on real-world projects to help you meet high standards in education and meet today’s challenges!

In pursuit of knowledge & experience

Home to the best Applied MSc programs, DTSI hosts programs in Data Analytics, Applied MSc in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, and the Applied MSc in Data Engineering for Artificial Intelligence programmes. All the courses offered are taught in English and consist of six months of on-campus classes (between 450 and 700 hours of classroom), with five hours a day tuition, along with practical projects, followed by a six-month internship. It is a real engineering rhythm, and this, twice a year, with a start in Autumn (November) and Spring (April). Alternatively, there is an off-campus self-paced online course, perfect if you are a working professional who would rather proceed at your own speed over 18 to 36 months. Before the start of the programme, students will participate in a 75-hour preparatory bootcamp in order to prepare them in all the base knowledge in applied mathematics and IT for a smooth start.

Since the creation of DSTI, 100% of students have found an internship through its industrial partners and online Career Center”, stated – Sebastien Corniglion, the acting Dean at DSTI. Talking to Mr. Sebastien, we understood the whole working ethos present on the campus of DSTI, and we also learnt that the school has developed relationships with employers to understand their needs. Mr. Sebastien also elaborated on how DSTI’s dedicated staff helps students to start a new career by promoting their employability in the market.

The Sophia-Antipolis campus, which is also DSTI headquarters, is in the South of France. It sits in the largest European technology cluster, often called the French Silicon Valley. The Parisian campus is in the heart of the capital, next to other prestigious universities and touristic places. The two campuses are virtually connected, and classes are given to both campuses simultaneously.

The strength of Data ScienceTech Institute

If I had to go from “DSTI environment” to science, would start with the international environment of the school. “With,” teaching exclusively in English, 2/3 of our students are international, of which nearly 50% are non-European, we are making economic exports, by projecting France’s skills in applied mathematics and computer science to the wider world”, added Mr. Sebastien, telling us how vaste and impressive the international connect is at DSTI, and how it works towards strengthening it each day

There is also the content and the flexibility of our programmes, which are perhaps the key strengths of DSTI. This is backed by our teaching staff, French, European and International, coming from both the academic and professional world. Some of them are holders of international prizes and medals or chairs of “Interdisciplinary Institutes of Artificial Intelligence”(3IA). All this reflects on our employability rate, which has always been to 100%.”

Career opportunities after DSTI

The Data Analyst is the expert operator of the tools used for business decision support. As such, he or she must be able to manipulate data reservoirs, connect to the various points in the company’s data pipeline, and then use complex software that allows both analysis and graphical restitution of results. The results must inform and assist decision-making. This job position is going through major changes: from a 20th century Excel expert, we are moving on to extremely broad skills ranging from descriptive and inferential statistics, to the manipulation of structured or unstructured databases.

The Data Scientist is a complex applied mathematics job position, with the use of computer tools for the design and/or improvement of algorithms for descriptive or predictive modelling of data. Some people talk about Artificial Intelligence, even if we are still far from it: Machine Learning is more reasonable. Data Scientists, not being computer scientists, produce prototypes or “Proofs of Concept” to be industrialized.

The Data Engineer or Big Data expert, which is a computer science professional, analyses, designs and implements the company’s data reservoirs and pipelines. They play a major role in the architecture of information systems (IS). The Data Engineer is also in charge of “scaling up” the proofs of concept of their Data Scientist colleagues into the organizations’ IS. Their mathematical skills are strong, to the point that they are sometimes called “Machine Learning Engineers”.

Sebastien Corniglion – Co-founder, Dean & Professor

The Co-founder and CEO of DSTI, Sébastien Corniglion is in charge of education and research policies at the institute. Graduated from the Université Nice Sophia-Antipolis & The University of Edinburgh, he is a former Adjunct Professor at Université Nice Sophia-Antipolis, EDHEC, IDRAC, Thăng Long University.