Introduction to Data Science • Financial risk modeling

What is Data Science? • Climate forecasting

Data Science is an interdisciplinary field that uses • Sports analytics
scientific methods, algorithms, processes, and • Social media analysis
systems to extract knowledge and insights from
structured and unstructured data. Relation with Other Fields
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): Data science
It combines: powers AI applications.
• Statistics • Machine Learning (ML): A subset of data
• Mathematics science focused on algorithms that learn from
• Computer Science data.
• Domain Knowledge • Big Data: Data science techniques are used to
• Machine Learning & AI analyse massive datasets.

Goals of Data Science Conclusion

• Discover patterns and trends in data Data Science is transforming how we understand
• Make data-driven decisions and interact with the world. It empowers businesses
• Build predictive models and researchers to uncover meaningful insights,
• Provide business insights make informed decisions, and automate processes
intelligently.
Why Data Science Matters
With the explosion of data in today’s digital age, Need for Data Science
organizations rely on data science to: 1. Explosion of Data
• Improve customer experience • Every day, massive amounts of data are
• Optimize operations generated from social media, IoT devices,
• Innovate products/services sensors, transactions, etc.
• Detect fraud • Traditional methods cannot handle such
• Predict market trends volume, variety, and velocity of data (Big
Data).
Key Components • Data Science provides techniques to store,
1. Data Collection – Gathering raw data from process, analyze, and extract value from this
various sources data.
2. Data Cleaning – Removing inconsistencies
and missing values 2. Turning Data into Insights
3. Data Exploration – Using statistics and • Raw data has no meaning unless
visualization to understand data interpreted.
4. Feature Engineering – Selecting or creating • Data Science helps in transforming data
relevant data features into actionable insights using statistics,
5. Model Building – Applying machine learning machine learning, and visualization tools.
algorithms
6. Evaluation – Testing the model’s performance 3. Better Business Decisions
7. Deployment – Integrating the model into real- • Companies rely on data-driven decisions
world applications to reduce risk and improve strategies.
• Applications include:
Tools Used in Data Science o Market trend analysis
• Languages: Python, R, SQL o Customer segmentation
• Libraries: Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn, o Product recommendations
TensorFlow, Matplotlib o Sales forecasting
• Platforms: Jupyter Notebook, Google Colab,
Apache Spark 4. Automation and Efficiency
• Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB • Data Science enables automation of repetitive
tasks using AI and ML.
Applications of Data Science • Examples:
• E-commerce recommendation systems o Chatbots in customer service
• Healthcare diagnostics
 o Predictive maintenance in • Data was analyzed manually using
manufacturing mathematical models.
o Fraud detection in banking
2. Computer Revolution (1950s–1970s): Data
5. Solving Real-world Problems Processing Begins
• Healthcare: Diagnosing diseases with ML • The invention of computers allowed for
models automated data processing.
• Agriculture: Predicting crop yields using • Languages like FORTRAN and COBOL were
climate data used to handle data.
• Environment: Monitoring air quality and • Introduction of Relational Databases
deforestation (RDBMS) by E. F. Codd in 1970 laid the
• Education: Personalizing learning paths for groundwork for structured data management.
students
3. Rise of Business Intelligence (1980s–1990s):
6. Competitive Advantage • Growth of enterprise systems led to data
• Organizations using Data Science gain a warehousing and business intelligence (BI).
competitive edge by understanding trends, • Tools like SQL, Excel, and OLAP allowed
customer behavior, and operational organizations to report and query data.
inefficiencies. • Focus was on descriptive analytics (what
• Data-driven companies often outperform their happened?).
competitors.
4. Birth of Data Mining (1990s–Early 2000s):
7. Universal Applicability • Emergence of data mining as a formal
• Data Science is industry-agnostic – used in field.
finance, healthcare, retail, transport, • Use of algorithms to find patterns and
entertainment, education, etc. relationships in large datasets.
• Tools like Weka, SAS, and SPSS became
8. Complex Decision-Making popular.
• Helps in handling uncertainty and complexity
in decisions through: 5. Big Data Era (2000s–2010s): Explosion of
o Predictive analytics Data
o Risk modeling • The internet, social media, IoT, and mobile
o Scenario analysis devices led to the data explosion.
• Traditional tools couldn’t handle the 3Vs of Big
Conclusion Data: Volume, Variety, Velocity.
In a world overflowing with data, Data Science is • New frameworks like Hadoop and
essential for making sense of information, solving MapReduce emerged.
problems efficiently, and staying ahead in a • Companies like Google and Facebook started
competitive environment. It is not just an option using advanced data analytics to drive
anymore—it's a necessity. decisions.

Evolution of Data Science 6. Machine Learning & AI Integration (2010s–

Data Science did not emerge overnight — it Present):
evolved through various stages, influenced by • The integration of machine learning with data
developments in statistics, computing, and artificial analytics became widespread.
intelligence. • Libraries like Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and
PyTorch enabled predictive modeling and deep
1. Pre-Computer Era (Before 1950s): learning.
Foundations in Statistics & Mathematics • Cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google
• The roots of data science lie in mathematics Cloud simplified large-scale data handling.
and statistics. • Shift from descriptive to predictive and
• Early statisticians like Karl Pearson and prescriptive analytics.
Ronald Fisher developed techniques for data
analysis.
7. Modern Data Science (2020s–Present): 4. Machine Learning Engineer
• Data Science becomes mainstream across • Primary Role: Develop and deploy machine
industries. learning models in production environments.
• Emphasis on real-time analytics, AI-powered • Key Skills: Python, TensorFlow/PyTorch,
insights, AutoML, and MLOps. model optimization, MLOps, APIs.
• Tools like Power BI, Tableau, Snowflake, and • Typical Tasks:
Databricks gain traction. o Train, test, and deploy ML models
• Increasing role of ethical AI, data o Optimize performance and accuracy
governance, and explainable AI (XAI). o Maintain models in production

Conclusion 5. Data Architect

The journey of Data Science is a convergence of • Primary Role: Design the overall structure of
statistics, computer science, domain knowledge, data systems and databases.
and AI. From manual calculations to intelligent • Key Skills: Database design, cloud
systems, it continues to evolve with technology and architecture, big data technologies, data
societal needs — shaping the future of decision- modeling.
making. • Typical Tasks:
o Plan data storage and access
Roles in Data Science o Define data integration strategies
Data Science is a multidisciplinary field that o Ensure security and compliance
involves a variety of specialized roles. Each role
contributes uniquely to the data science workflow 6. Business Intelligence (BI) Developer
— from collecting data to delivering insights and • Primary Role: Create tools and dashboards
deploying solutions. that help businesses understand data.
• Key Skills: Power BI, Tableau, SQL, DAX,
1. Data Scientist ETL tools.
• Primary Role: Extract insights from complex • Typical Tasks:
data using analytics, machine learning, and o Build interactive reports
visualization. o Automate business reporting
• Key Skills: Python/R, statistics, machine o Provide insights for decision-makers
learning, data visualization, business acumen.
• Typical Tasks: 7. Statistician
o Build predictive models • Primary Role: Apply mathematical and
o Perform exploratory data analysis statistical techniques to analyze data.
o Communicate findings to stakeholders • Key Skills: Probability theory, hypothesis
testing, regression, R, SAS.
2. Data Analyst • Typical Tasks:
• Primary Role: Interpret data to help in o Design experiments and surveys
decision-making using statistical tools. o Interpret complex data
• Key Skills: SQL, Excel, Tableau/Power BI, o Validate model accuracy
basic statistics.
• Typical Tasks: 8. Data Governance Specialist
o Generate reports and dashboards • Primary Role: Ensure data quality,
o Analyze trends and patterns privacy, and compliance with regulations.
o Support business teams with insights • Key Skills: Data privacy laws (GDPR),
metadata management, auditing, policy
3. Data Engineer enforcement.
• Primary Role: Design and maintain systems • Typical Tasks:
for collecting, storing, and processing data. o Establish data usage policies
• Key Skills: SQL, Python/Java/Scala, ETL, o Monitor compliance
Hadoop, Spark, cloud platforms (AWS, GCP). o Maintain data integrity
• Typical Tasks:
o Build data pipelines Conclusion
o Integrate and transform raw data Data Science is a team effort involving many roles
o Ensure data quality and scalability — from analysts and engineers to scientists and
architects. Each role plays a vital part in
transforming raw data into valuable insights and
intelligent systems.