The Citizen Data Scientist

It is possible that you already have a citizen data scientist on your team, even if they aren’t formally recognized as such. This group of people has been slowly growing in numbers since the term was first coined in 2016, but you won’t find this job title on any job boards. 

What is Citizen Data Scientist? 

Gartner defines the citizen data scientist as “a person who creates or generates models that leverage predictive or prescriptive analytics, but whose primary job function is outside of the field of statistics and analytics.”

The citizen data scientist can sit within any number of teams; marketing, sales, finance, or operations. What makes a successful data scientist is 

1. They have a strong understanding of the business and problems or goals they are trying to address (i.e., the use cases).
2. They have an understanding of the data.
3. The tools to complete their data science projects.

Citizen data scientists live within other roles; they uncover insights and make data-backed predictions that drive the business forward. 

Empowering Your Citizen Data Scientists

Whether you already have citizen scientists in your organization or are just beginning to think about building out those skills, the most important thing you can provide is the software they will use to do the analysis. There is a range of options for predictive analytics software. Everything from the labor-intensive programming options that almost require you to be a data scientist to use to low-code/no-code self-serve tools that your citizen data scientist can get up running in just a few clicks.

Finding the solution that meets the needs of the business and the skills of your users can provide value that will drive your business to new levels of success.

Squark and the Citizen Data Scientist

Squark provides a powerful, nimble, no-code predictive analytics solution to citizen data scientists. It is a true end-to-end automated tool. All the users have to do is connect their data, select the type of project they’d like to run, and Squark takes care of the rest. 

The no-code platform automates intelligent data discovery, data prep, data augmentation, debiasing, and feature engineering applying the best predictive model (out of thousands) for your data from today’s leading algorithms.

Results get delivered in easy-to-understand tables and graphs. You and your team can take immediate action on your newly created predictive data by sending it back into the system of origin.

Takeaway: With the right support and tools, citizen data scientists can deliver advanced analytics (impactful insights and powerful predictions) without having the skills that characterize data scientists.