The result of such new capabilities is an ability to create value from data analysis, especially Big Data, in a business environment. Emphasis is placed on linkages and communication between all relevant disciplines and on improving understanding between business decision makers and data experts.

Businesses and other organizations (such as government agencies and NGOs) increasingly recognize the value of voluminous data and appropriate business analytics. The skills necessary to analyze and act upon insights from data are dispersed among managers, economic analysts, computer engineers and statisticians. Business analytics, especially involving Big Data, can help organizations make smarter and more effective decisions, such as finding ways to increase sales and to cut costs.

There is already a massive shortage of data scientists and business analysts, who are needed as Big Data grows. Last year Gartner (a leading research advisory service on IT issues) predicted that 4.4 million technology jobs would be created to support business analytics, including big data by 2015, and three times that many jobs are required outside of computing.

The primary aim of this program is to serve this burgeoning market with well-prepared professionals. The program offers students skills and knowledge in especially four disciplines: Economics, Management, Statistics and Technology. The four disciplines are equally important in business analytics and receive approximately equal weight in the curriculum. Thus, the program offers a full spectrum of skills and knowledge necessary for business professionals and specialists to create value from big data and other sources of quantitative information.

Graduates of the program gain deep familiarity with all major aspects of Business Analytics, with an emphasis on Big Data. They will be especially well versed in applications assisting business decision making. By understanding the pressing questions posed by managers, the methodological challenges of statistics, as well as the power and limitation of technologies, our graduates will assume key positions within their organizations. We expect that some students will become entrepreneurs, starting new firms serving the growing demand for Business Analytics.

“Our new Business Analytics Master’s Program is one of the most exciting undertakings occurring at CEU in recent years. This new program educates professionals and prepares them for fulfilling and lucrative careers in a dynamic and accelerating new sector. The program also leverages relevant competencies across our entire university and a major corporate partner. The result is an outstanding, broad-gauged, efficiently packaged and forward-thinking learning experience for our students. Thus, this program represents an unprecedented opportunity for a diverse range of qualified candidates,” says Mel Horwitch, CEU Business School Dean.

Relying on the expertise accumulated at CEU Business School, the CEU Department of Economics, CEU Center for Network Science, and our industry partner, IBM, CEU is in a unique position to offer this program.

“Data is becoming the world’s new natural resource. It exists in unlimited form and is easily accessible. And analytics provides means to profit from this resource. A new IT era is emerging, which results in new market dynamics. But creating real value will require new skills and competencies—all of which we can provide in this program,” says Achilles Georgiu, Senior Consultant at IBM and Program Director of MSc in IT Management at CEU Business School

“In fact, it is natural that IBM will take an active and enthusiastic role in this future-oriented program development. Business Analytics is one of our four main pillars of IBM’s strategy of innovation, transformation and higher value. We especially see the need to emphasize Big Data in this program, knowledge of which is critical for well-prepared professionals in Business Analytics.”

“I am excited by our new program, as it brings together faculty and students from various disciplines who are passionate about data,” says Miklós Koren, Associate Professor in Economics and Program Director of MSc in Business Analytics. “In my research projects on public spending and corruption, I have worked together with economists, sociologists, computer scientists and journalists to analyze and effective communicate our results. I am looking forward to similar, truly interdisciplinary interactions in the classroom and beyond.”

Source: CEU Business School