Exploring the Impact

of Data Science on
Modern Business
Processes
LO3: Explore The Tools And Technologies Associated With Data Science And How It Supports
Business Processes
Data Science Overview
What is Data Science?
Data science, also known as data-driven science

It is the study of data to extract meaningful knowledge

or insights for business.

It is a multidisciplinary approach that combines

principles and practices from the fields of mathematics,
statistics, artificial intelligence, and computer
engineering to analyze large amounts of data.

This analysis helps data scientists to ask and answer

questions like what happened, why it happened, what
will happen, and what can be done with the results.
Impact of Exponential Data Growth
on Data Science
The exponential growth of data has significantly impacted the
field of data science in several ways, particularly in how data is
collected and utilized.
1- Increased Data Volume: With the proliferation of digital
devices, sensors, and online platforms, the volume of data
generated has exploded.
2- Diverse Data Sources: Data is no longer limited to structured
databases. It now comes in various forms, including text, images,
videos, sensor data, social media interactions, and more.
3- Real-Time Data Processing: Many applications require real-
time analysis of data streams to extract valuable insights or make
immediate decisions.
Data Science and Big Data
They are not the “same thing”
Big data = crude oil
Big data is about extracting “crude
oil”, transporting it in “mega
tankers”, siphoning it through
“pipelines”, and storing it in “massive
silos”
Data science is about refining the
“crude oil”
Data Science Importance
Data science is important because it combines tools, methods, and technology to
generate meaning from data.

Modern organizations are inundated with data; there is a proliferation of devices that
can automatically collect and store information.

Online systems and payment portals capture more data in the fields of e-commerce,
medicine, finance, and every other aspect of human life. We have text, audio, video,
and image data available in vast quantities.
Data Science Importance
1. Data science helps brands to understand their customers in a much
enhanced and empowered manner.
2. It allows brands to communicate their story in such an engaging
and powerful manner.
3. Big Data is a new field that is constantly growing and evolving.
4. Its findings and results can be applied to almost any sector like
travel, healthcare, and education among others.
5. Data science is accessible to almost all sectors.
The Core Aims of Data Science
1- Making Data Useful and Retrievable: Data science involves collecting, storing, and organizing
data in a way that makes it easily accessible and useful for analysis.

2- Extracting Actionable Intelligence: Data science aims to extract insights and intelligence from
data that can inform decision-making and drive actionable outcomes.

3- Improving Business Performance: One of the primary goals of data science is to use data-driven
insights to enhance business performance.

4- Automating Extraction and Implementation: Data science also involves automating processes
for data extraction, analysis, and implementation of insights.
 Sales
ID Name Birthdate ($) Notes

1 John Doe 01-05-1990 2000

Good Example
2 jane doe 1990/06/15 1500
customer
-
Messy
Follow up
Dataset:
3 NULL 07-20-1991 needed

4 Alice Smith 1990/06/15 1500 Duplicate

Bob
5 Johnson 08-10-1989 1750 VIP
 The
Sales
ID Name Birthdate ($) Notes Cleaning
1 John Doe 01-05-1990 2000
Good
customer
Process of
2 jane doe 1990/06/15 1500 -
Messy
Follow up
Dataset:
3 07-20-1991 needed

4 Alice Smith 1990/06/15 1500 Duplicate

Bob
5 Johnson 08-10-1989 1750 VIP

Handle Missing Values

 Sales
ID Name Birthdate
($)
THE CLEANED
1 John Doe 1990-05-01 2000 AND
2 Jane Doe 1990-06-15 1500 STRUCTURED
DATASET:
3 Unknown 1991-07-20 0
4 Alice Smith 1990-06-15 1500

5 Bob Johnson 1989-08-10 1750

Data Science Job Roles
Data Scientist
•Also called Statisticians, Data Managers
• Performs analysis and builds predictive models.
• A Data Scientist will be able to take data science projects from
end to end.
• They can help store large amounts of data, create predictive
modeling processes and tell stories about the findings
Data Science Job Roles
•Data Engineer:
• Also called Data Architects
• Focuses on data infrastructure and pipelines.

Data Engineers are versatile generalists who create data

pipelines to help process large amounts of data. They typically
focus on coding, cleaning up data sets, and implementing
requests that come from Data Scientists.
Sub-Disciplines in Data Science
 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): Artificial intelligence is a broad field of computer science that aims to create

intelligent systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence.

• AI encompasses various subfields, including machine learning, natural language processing, computer

vision, robotics, and expert systems. AI techniques are used to automate tasks, make predictions, recognize

patterns, and solve complex problems across diverse domains such as healthcare, finance, autonomous

vehicles, and cybersecurity.

 Data Engineering:
• Data Engineering: Data engineering focuses on designing, constructing, and maintaining the infrastructure

and architecture necessary for the storage, processing, and retrieval of data.

• Data engineers work with large volumes of structured and unstructured data, building pipelines and systems

for data ingestion, transformation, and storage. They ensure data quality, scalability, and reliability to

support the analytical and operational needs of organizations.

 Machine Learning:
• Machine Learning: Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on developing

algorithms and statistical models that enable computers to learn from and make predictions or decisions

based on data.

• - Machine learning algorithms can be categorized into supervised, unsupervised, semi-supervised, and

reinforcement learning techniques. Applications of machine learning span various domains, including image

and speech recognition, natural language processing, recommendation systems, and predictive analytics.
Data Science Tools
In today’s world, there is an overwhelming amount of data. Because of this, data science
has become very popular in the tech industry.
Definition: Data science tools are software, platforms, or libraries that help data
scientists handle the entire data lifecycle—data collection, cleaning, analysis,
visualization, and modeling.
It’s like the cool and knowledgeable relative that everyone wants to spend time with at
family events. But how does data science work its magic of analyzing numbers and
finding patterns?
Purpose: These tools simplify complex tasks, improve efficiency, and allow data
scientists to derive insights and make data-driven decisions.
 Data Science Tools

Definition: The foundation for writing code and performing data analysis.

Python
 Data Science Tools

Definition: Libraries that help process and analyze data.

 Data Science Tools

Definition: Prebuilt tools to apply machine learning algorithms.

Data Science Tools

Definition: Help visualize data to find patterns and communicate insights.

 Data Science Tools

Definition: Handle massive datasets that can’t fit in traditional systems.

 Data Science Tools

Definition: Used to build neural networks for complex tasks like image recognition.
Data Science Tools

Definition: Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) tools help clean and prepare data.

 Data Science Tools

Definition: Cloud platforms that provide scalable computing power and tools.
 Data Science Tools

Definition: Interactive coding environments for writing and running code,

documentation, and visualizations.
Data Science Use
Extracting Usable Information
Types of Analytics

Figure 1 : Types of Analytics

 Descriptive Analytics
•Descriptive analytics is a commonly used form of data analysis whereby historical data is
collected, organized and then presented in a way that is easily understood.

•This type is focused only on what has already happened in a business and, unlike other methods
of analysis, it is not used to draw inferences or predictions from its findings.

• Descriptive analytics is, rather, a foundational starting point used to prepare data for further
analysis down the line.
 Descriptive analytics
•Generally, the most simplistic form of data analytics, descriptive analytics uses simple maths and
statistical tools, such as arithmetic, averages ,and percent changes, rather than the complex
calculations necessary for predictive and prescriptive analytics.

•Visual tools such as line graphs, pie, and bar charts are used to present findings, meaning
descriptive analytics can – and should – be easily understood by a wide business audience.
Example of Descriptive Analytics

What patterns do you notice in this chart?

Based on this chart, if you were to give a bonus at the end of
the year, who would you choose and why?
Example of Descriptive Analytics
 Predictive analytics
• Predictive analytics is the use of data to predict future trends and events. It uses historical data to forecast potential
scenarios that can help drive strategic decisions.

• Predictive analytics is a way to use the past to project the future of your business. This is not, futurology but an
accurate calculation of the probabilities in any scenario, based on the processing of large volumes of data.

• The basic goal of predictive analytics is to forecast what will happen in the future with a high degree of certainty.
This distinguishes predictive analytics from descriptive analytics, which assists analysts in analyzing what has
previously occurred.
 Predictive Analytics
•Predictive analytics utilizes a variety of statistical techniques, such as automated machine
learning algorithms, deep learning, data mining, and AI, to create predictive models, which
extract information from datasets, identify patterns, and provide a predictive score for an array of
organizational outcomes.
Predictive Analytics
 Prescriptive Analytics
• Prescriptive analytics is a statistical method used to generate recommendations and make

decisions based on the computational findings of algorithmic models.

• Prescriptive analytics is the third and final tier in modern, computerized data analytics.

• Prescriptive analytics is the natural progression from descriptive and predictive analytics procedures. It goes

a step further to remove the guesswork out of data analytics.