I gave a talk today at the Young Statisticians’ Workshop hosted by the Canberra Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia. Although the event was aimed at those early in their statistical career, I chose a topic that is relevant for all of us: how ‘big data’ and ‘data science’ relate to our profession and how we can equip ourselves to be actively involved.

My talk covered some similar ground to a talk I gave last year at the University of Melbourne. That one targeted academic statisticians in particular and discussed how I think statistical education needs to change. In contrast, I aimed today’s talk at students & recent graduates and suggested ideas on how to kick-start a career as statistician and data scientist. See my slides for more details.