Overview
BSc (Hons) in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence is the 5th curriculum update of the “BSc (Hons) in Statistical Analysis” program which is launched in 2012. The School of S&T has a good practice of regular inspection of the program curriculum to ensure the offered programs meet the market needs. It is no doubt that effective and efficient usage of data in the digital world nowadays can help to foster a better world/society. However, people who are competent in harvest useful insights from a vast amount of data require a particular set of skills which is different from those offered by traditional academic program curriculums. Competent candidates should be able to manipulate data stored in different sources, explore useful patterns via math/statistical and machine learning skills, interpret the numerical results, summarize meaningful findings and convey the messages to other parties effectively.Topics from Statistics, Mathematics, Computing and Economics are addressed in this program. To ensure our students to acquire appropriate skills, regular meetings with various parties are arranged. The curriculum of OUHK BSc(Hons) in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence is resulted from the recommendations given by industry professionals, academic professors and employers in business sectors.
To meet the employers’ expectations, our curriculum incorporates SAS Institute official training materials and therefore students can take the Industrial certification (e.g. SAS programmer & SAS predictive modeler) examinations right after the completion of the respective courses.
Furthermore, students in this program are encouraged to expand their horizons via international organizations such as The Royal Statistical Society (RSS), The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), British Computer Society (BCS), Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Recognitions of the courses offered in the revised curriculum of BSc(Hons) in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (BSCHDSAIF) 數據科學及人工智能榮譽理學士 are under review. The former program (BSCHSADF3) has acquired several external recognitions including:
- SAS Joint University certification - SAS programming and Data Mining
- The Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) – Level 5
Graduates are usually employed as data analyst or related positions in the areas of finance, banking, marketing research, education, logistics and government sector.
Career Prospect:
Data scientist is ranked number 1 in the United States (LinkedIn's Most Promising Jobs of 2019), whereas AI specialist is ranked number 1 among the top 10 roles in the United States (LinkedIn's 2020 Emerging Jobs Report). Hong Kong has been lagging behind the US and the UK in the size of the data science and AI job market, but now the demand is very strong as typically hundreds of job vacancies are available at any one time. While many data science/AI jobs are operating in the business context, there are still a wide range of roles and job titles, reflecting the multi-talented nature of the area.
Graduates will be ready for entry-level roles of data scientists, AI specialists, data engineers, and data analysts in commercial firms and public institutions.