ExploreAI Academy, formerly the Explore Data Science Academy, has opened applications for its 2023 data science and data engineering courses.
In a statement, the academy says the 12-month full-time and part-time courses begin on 16 January.
It notes the full-time course option involves approximately 50 hours of course-related content and activities per week, while the part-time course involves about 15 hours per week.
“The full-time course, suitable for students able to make a bigger time commitment, includes more face time with facilitators through tutorial classes and weekly discussion group meetings. Students also have the opportunity to work in a team on larger projects.
“The part-time course takes into account that students may be working or have other responsibilities. These students will have access to a discussion forum where facilitators will offer assistance, as well as bi-weekly webinars to cover more difficult concepts and give more in-depth explanations of topics.”
Billed as Africa’s largest data science academy, the institution was founded in 2017 by data scientists Shaun Dippnall, Dave Strugnell and Aidan Helmbold. It was launched with the aim of meeting the burgeoning demand for data analytics in the digital economy − a demand that far exceeds current supply.
The 2022 JCSE-IITPSA ICT Skills Survey found growing demand for fourth industrial revolution skills, particularly in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, along with developers and cyber security specialists.
ExploreAI Academy notes students looking to enrol can choose from data science or data engineering courses.
The data science course starts with basic terminology and moves on to defining problems before starting to tackle them. It then follows training on data visualisation, the fundamentals of Python programming, and working with SQL to use databases for storing, reading and updating data.
It also has a machine learning phase, whereby students solve real-world problems by building regression, classification and unsupervised learning models in Python. This involves data exploration, insight building, and improving and communicating models from a raw and unstructured dataset.
In the case of the data engineering course, it provides an overview of data-related fundamentals and advanced big data techniques.
The data engineering fundamentals phase teaches how to identify and state problems clearly, how to code effectively in SQL and Python, and use a variety of AWS services to work with data in the cloud, essentially storing and moving big data, notes the academy.
According to ExploreAI Academy, its long courses are MICT SETA-accredited and all flagship qualifications are accredited at NQF Level 5.
In terms of the available financing options, this may be done in a number of ways: paying the fees upfront, pay-as-you-learn, or over a 36-month period.
Interested candidates can apply for the data science course here, while those looking to enrol for data engineering can apply here.
Share