Evalueserve to Train Chileans in Data Analytics

Global knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firm Evalueserve has teamed up with Chile’s top university Universidad Viña del Mar to generate a new breed of data scientists.

As part of the agreement, Evalueserve and the university will choose students or fresh graduates willing to gain expertise in data analytics. Once on board, the students will be taught both business and computer science on their way to become data scientists.

Known as the ‘Data Science Training Program’, the initiative includes organizing special classes at the university to train students in the skills necessary to analyze big data used by major industries worldwide.

Analytics and data management are among the major services Evalueserve offers from its Chilean office, which it opened in 2006. According Carlos Busso, president of the Chilean ICT association, Big Data alone represents a US$4.7 billion opportunity for Chile and the industry here wants to employ around 9,500 specialists by 2018.

A shortage in skilled professionals has long been hurting international technology firms in Chile. Take the example of Evalueserve itself. The Gurgaon, India-based firm had expected to employ 500 people in Chile by 2014.  Today its headcount in Chile still numbers at around 350.

“This program will teach skills that are not emphasized in depth in the classroom, thus highlighting the diverse Data Science skills of the students in our region,” said Kathleen Lowry, Head of International Programs at Universidad Viña del Mar.

Like in many developing countries, Chilean technology professionals quickly realize that their schools do not teach them the skills their workplace demands. In other words, schools don’t fully prepare them for the challenges they face in the workplace.

“We decided to open up the academic world to deliver these skills before the students graduate, introducing them to the professional world as updated as possible,” said Sumeet Sangar, Country Head of Evalueserve Chile. “International companies like ours, with dynamic, modern and multicultural features usually come to the conclusion that the skills of the new graduates should be re-adapted to this new reality.”

All students with a basic education in business and computer science will be allowed to make use of the initiative.