IBM Plans Analytics Center in Suburban Ohio

IBM announced last week that it’s setting up an analytics center in suburban Columbus, Ohio, that’s expected to create 500 jobs in Big Data analysis. It said it will work with the university and industry partners for a “broad public- and private-sector collaboration.” According to its announcement:

“The first-of-its-kind technology, research and development, and client services lab is intended to spark economic competitiveness that will draw on the expertise of educational institutions and industry partners to create a world-class ecosystem serving industries’ fastest-growing technical disciplines aligned to business analytics.”

It’s no secret that knowledge and training in analytics must grow for widespread adoption of Big Data solutions. According to an oft-cited report from the McKinsey Global Institute:

The United States alone faces a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with analytical expertise and 1.5 million managers and analysts with the skills to understand and make decisions based on the analysis of big data.

IBM, of course, will take advantage of the opportunity to train a whole generation of analytics professionals on its software, as Big Blue also notes:

“Ohio is home to 27 Fortune 500, and 57 Fortune 1,000 companies, as well as a burgeoning technology sector and leading academic institutions.”

Though the curricula developed by IBM and Ohio State based on IBM’s Sterling Commerce group and Watson-based analytics will begin in the Fisher College of Business, curricula are to be developed for engineering and arts and sciences students as well, from the undergraduate level to Ph.D. programs, according to Forbes.

According to the press release, IBM has committed to hiring 500 people at this center over 3 years, and it already operates eight Analytics Solution Centers that offer expertise in financial risk management; transportation; and the specific needs of state, local and federal governments.