IBA launches MS in Data Science

The Institute of Business Administration on Saturday launched Master in Data Science programme commencing on August 2020, comprising 4 semesters with a total of 30 credit hours.

The MS leading to PhD programme will allow students to choose a thesis alongside their course work. The programme designed by the Faculty of Computer Science is aimed to facilitate students with non-computer science background and foundation level courses will be offered to enable students to come at par with their peers.

The academic rigour coupled with experiential learning will prepare the students in the field of machine learning, statistics and big data analytics. Department of Computer Science Chairperson Dr Shakeel Khoja said that the programme offered clear understanding in areas of statistical modelling, management of massive data sets, data visualisation, software engineering and data ethics.

“The program prepares students to extract valuable insights from data and offers rigorous training to handle problems of big data,” said Dr Khoja.

Commenting on the programme launch, Executive Director IBA Dr S Akbar Zaidi said, “The advancement in artificial intelligence, communications and robotics across the globe has led to the high demand of data scientists. Although Pakistan lies at the onset of this development, an increasing need is being felt in the software industry and service sectors like financial institutions, telecommunication organisations, healthcare providers and multi nationals to produce trained workforce.”

He said that this market-driven programme would set a new benchmark for other universities. With the addition of Data Science programme, the IBA Karachi was now offering 9 graduate programmes, 6 undergraduate and 3 postgraduate programmes. The admission to various programmes for Fall 2020 is currently open.