Salford University hosts SAS Forum to tackle high demands for certified professionals
Salford University hosts SAS Forum to tackle high demands for certified professionals
Tuesday 7 July 2015
Last month, the University of Salford hosted a ‘statistical analysis system’ (SAS) Forum at MediaCityUK, which brought together programmers, analysts and data scientists from across the industry, the public sector and academia to look at the latest developments in SAS technology.
The SAS programme was created to help organisations anticipate business opportunities, empower action and drive impact through advanced analytics that turns data into meaningful information.
The three-day forum included expert-led insights, panel-discussions, demonstrations, networking opportunities and presentations by SAS Professionals. Key topics of the forum were driving Innovation from Big Data, approaching an analytical project, Streaming Analytics and the Internet of Things, Self Service Analytics and what it does mean for organisations, SAS and the Cloud.
Salford academics, Professor Sunil Vadera, Head of the School of Computing, Science and Engineering (CSE), Professor Farid Meziane, Associate Head of CSE, and Dr Mo Saraee, CSE Senior Lecturer in data mining and SAS Student Academy Coordinator, attended and supported the event.
Dr Saraee said: “My team from the CSE is very proud to be hosting the SAS Forum. The Forum offered unique and valuable opportunities for Salford University to build key contacts in the business analytics world.”
Geoffrey Taylor, SAS Academic Programme Manager, said: “For our part at SAS we look forward to working with the University to realise the School’s ambitions in the big data and analytics areas. This is a fine opportunity for Salford University to position itself as a leader in the Northwest of England.”
In October 2014, the University of Salford was accredited as a SAS Academy, following research into employers demand for labour and skills, carried out by The Tech Partnership and SAS UK, revealed that the demand for big data specialist could increase by 160 per cent over the next five years.
As part of the SAS programme, Salford will be able to offer its MS DWBS students modules in big data skills (such as data collecting, data mining, and analysis). The courses that are to be run will enable students to acquire core skills in SAS Base and Advanced Programming, SAS Enterprise Guide, SAS Enterprise Miner and other SAS tools allowing them to gain SAS certification.
The University’s School of Computing, Science & Engineering is currently the only SAS Students Academy in the Northwest of England.
