Data Science skills are, increasingly, an integral part of research and required to build a deeper understanding of research data. However, many researchers face a growing knowledge gap in these skills. The 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap mentions that:
“Rapid advances in computing techniques and analysis, and management of large and complex datasets, have resulted in researchers no longer having sufficient expertise in data management, computational and analysis techniques.”
In 2016, a survey of 704 National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences Directorate principal investigators (BIO PIs) was conducted and nearly 90% indicated they are currently or will soon be analysing large data sets. However, BIO PIs acknowledged that data science skills will be required to build a deeper understanding of life [1] .This portends a growing data knowledge gap in biology and challenges institutions and funding agencies to redouble their support for computational training in biology [1]. Environmental and other scientists face the same issues and unmet need for training and mentorship/support in computational skills [2, 3, 4].
Intersect Australia has launched the Advanced Analytics & AI (3AI) Platform to help address this pressing unmet need and bridge the knowledge gap by helping researchers/scientists advance their research quicker using advanced analytics, data science and AI methods combined with cutting edge digital tools and technologies/infrastructure.