The prestigious Harvard Business Review calls it the sexiest job of the 21st century. Data scientists, i.e., statisticians of yesteryears, are in high demand. Firms are fighting over talent, even poaching. This unmet demand for data scientists in the western economies opens up great possibilities for the youth in Asia and Africa.

In the world of big data, big opportunities await keen learners.

The constraints of money, location, and time matter no more. While being in a small town in Pakistan, and with a decent Internet connection, the youth can receive training in advanced analytics from the likes of IBM.

Novel training platforms, such as the BigDataUniversity.com, are offering new channels to learn. And for those with modest means, it doesn’t cost a cent. The 'freemium' model, where the user doesn’t pay, seems more profitable than the premium model to large tech giants.

The learning world has democratised big time. In places like Pakistan, where local universities are too expensive or hard to join for learners with modest means, the youth now can now learn the same curriculum as their counterparts in top-rated universities in the West; Harvard and MIT have opened up their curriculum to the rest of the world.

Capitalise on the shortfall of data analysts

The real opportunity, though, lies in big data and analytics. It has become abundantly clear that the demand for data scientists is so large that universities and colleges in the West will not be able to train enough talent demanded by the marketplace. Already, the likes of McKinsey are forecasting a shortfall of millions of trained specialists.

“By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions,” said a report from the McKinsey Global Institute.

Authorities in developing countries like Pakistan and Philippines may want to seize the opportunity. Instead of preparing an expat workforce to work the minimum wage jobs in the construction industry in the Middle East, or being nannies in the West, governments could train their workers in big data and analytics to be part of the global network of analytics talent.

Instead of running training schools to train the aspiring nannies, the Philippines government could consider operating a network of training facilities for big data and analytics.

All you need is an Internet connection

The good news is that individual learners in the emerging economies do not have to wait for their governments to wake up and catch up with the fast-moving world. The youth can tap into the new digital river of learning with just an Internet connection.

For learners, there are several opportunities to be part of the new learning culture. Coursera, Udacity, and other similar platforms have emerged to offer training in a variety of disciplines. They are similar with distinct features.

Coursera offers courses from the world’s leading universities, such as Johns Hopkins. Udacity focuses on even newer learning paradigms, like the nonodegree, and offers industry-sponsored training. Tens of millions of learners have registered with these platforms.

Julia Stiglitz is the head of business development for Coursera. She recently revealed that “data science is one of the most popular courses on the platform.” Even the traditional brick-and-mortar universities are adapting to, and even facilitating in some cases, the new learning paradigms.

The open course movement was embraced by leading universities in the US to make their learning materials available to free learners around the world. Given the pace at which technological innovations are redefining learning, it is obvious that traditional universities might not have a choice to resist the emerging learning models.

Big data, big opportunity

BigDataUniversity.com is a data science and analytics-focused platform that is supported by the IBM. It has a modest goal: to train a million data scientists. Sounds ambitious? Yes. But one has to account for the size of the behemoth.

With a global workforce of over 400,000 employees, IBM can achieve this task in a jiffy. If every IBMer were to help train three individuals in data science, they could exceed the target of training a million.

But where is this million man/woman march heading? Is it an attempt by the IBM to train a global force to work in their proprietary software? The answer is no. In fact, BigDataUniversity has embraced open source platforms, such as R, to help democratise learning.

While it appears altruistic – and it is to a large extent – IBM and others know that an informed and well-trained workforce is going to increase the demand for even more sophisticated solutions and help support these companies’ bottom lines.

For learners in the emerging economies, the biggest challenge is to be self-disciplined enough to undergo unsupervised training. Millions register for the free courses, but only the disciplined few complete the program.

In the brave new world of big data analytics, an opportunity awaits the Pakistani youth. It does not require sailing through the troubled seas to land in Europe with an uncertain future of being a refugee. It offers an opportunity to learn what the youth are learning in the West and then demand a future on your own terms.

Don’t let this opportunity slip away.