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Manipal ProLearn and Equifax Inc., among the Big Three credit rating companies, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on October 4, 2018. The MoU aims at creating industry-ready professionals specialized in data science and analytics.
Ravi Panchanadan, Managing Director & CEO of Manipal Global Education Services and KM Nanaiah, Managing Director and Country Leader, India and MEA for Equifax recently signed the MOU.
You are probably well aware of the soaring demand for trained data science professionals across the globe. Equifax, a part of the ‘Big Three’, is one such company that relies on accurate big data analysis to produce valuable insights from all its scattered data to ultimately power effective decision-making.
Source: Quora
Explaining more about the role of data science in strengthening the legacy of Equifax, Tushita Chatterjee, Associate Vice President at Equifax told us, “As a global credit bureau, we have our own products and analytical solutions. So a regular day for the analytics team in the company involves dealing with a humungous amount of data and getting insights from it to finally tie it back to the needs of our customers in helping them solve their analytical challenges.”
No escaping from data
Here’s a typical scenario of how and where Equifax comes into play in the analytics industry. Say a bank has approached Equifax for solving their acquisition risk strategy. Getting to the solution would involve Equifax to study and analyse the current market situation and the process involves tying up all the elements together, be it the market, the industry landscape, the needs of the clients and their business problem, with the help of compact data.
The fact that there is a huge shortage of ‘right’ talent in the analytics industry is not hidden anymore. Poor quality of data eats up about 15% to 25% of the operating budgets of organisations. So there is an increased industry focus on quality data analysis while complying with the set regulations. And one thing is clear – there are no shortcuts to quality analysis. It calls for trained professionals, but are companies ready for such an investment?
Source: Peerview Data
The solution
Manipal ProLearn sensed the need for such a training program a couple of years ago, which served as the inspiration behind the launch of its Post Graduate Diploma in Data Science program. Within two years of its inception, the program has won several awards in addition to being named among the top three analytics courses in the country by Analytics India Magazine.
Taking the next step towards helping budding data scientists bag their dream jobs, Manipal has now joined hands with Equifax, who will provide their support as an industry partner. The recently signed MOU will enhance the learning experience of our students by updating their curriculum with case studies and other industry inputs. Equifax will also hold regular webinars and classroom sessions to help train our students and give them firts-hand exposure to the real world of analytics. Presently, the partnership is focusing on training students in emerging skills like data science and analytics, but the association may soon branch out to Manipal's other offerings like BFSI.
A power-packed partnership
Describing the expectations from the partnership, Tushita added “We met the students of Manipal ProLearn’s current batch of Post Graduate Diploma in Data Science and are pleased to see that they have acquired an in-depth understanding of sought-after data science aspects like R, Python, machine learning and AI to name a few. We have already selected four students from the batch and are sure the number will go up in the coming years. I believe the combination of our existing industry expertise along with Manipal’s talent will help us provide quick and advanced business solution, which is the need of the hour.”
Through this partnership, Equifax aims to have a steady inflow of industry-ready data science professionals hungry to show their analytical skills. In turn, Equifax will provide these enthusiastic professionals the right learning environment to put their skills to the best use.
Sanjay Kar, AVP, Equifax too shared his thoughts on the partnership. “During the recruitment process, we were looking at candidates to mainly fill two criteria – they should be technically adept and should have hands-on experience so that they are ready to adapt themselves as per the industry requirements from day one. And we were not disappointed at all!”
This association is also a win-win situation for the industry as Manipal is helping reduce the talent gap without any additional training investment in terms of both cost and efforts.
We are hopeful that the rare combination of talent, knowledge and experience that both Equifax and Manipal bring to the table will take us both to greater heights.
