Article: EMC Greenplum’s Steven Hillion on What Is a Data Scientist?

Here is an excerpt of Dan Woods’ article “EMC Greenplum’s Steven Hillion on What Is a Data Scientist?”

As the mounds of data pile up from every direction, businesses are going to be differentiated increasingly by how they use that data. The essential skill set needed for the enterprise of the 21st century is that of the “data scientist,” a role dedicated to understanding and making use of data to help a business or other organization. But, just like “big data,” “consumerization” and other new trends, the “data scientist” has many definitions. I’ve been asking leading practitioners about their take on the emerging role, in the hopes of arriving at a conclusive and constructive definition. (See this problem statement for my larger research agenda: Growing Your Own Data Scientists.)

Steven Hillion is vice president of analytics at EMC Greenplum, and has led engineering at firms such as Siebel, KANA and QRS. His educational background includes a major in number theory at the University of California, Berkeley, which got him thinking about moving software engineering closer toward mathematical applications. At EMC Greenplum he is in charge of the design of their Chorus product which aims to support collaborative analysis of data and also helps customers improve their data analysis practices. (See“Does Big Data Always Require Big Money” for more on the need for agility in data analysis.)

You can see the rest of the article here:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danwoods/2011/10/11/emc-greenplums-steven-hillion-on-what-is-a-data-scientist/