Our Mission
The ODSA’s two-fold mission is to make data science:
- Accessible: Successful data scientists can come from all walks of life. Until now, the data science community has been small and insular, and has not reflected the explosive growth the field has experienced in the past decade. The data science community needs to continue to diversify and grow. Many current data scientists did not come from universities. There was no degree to be found locally until 2016. Because a degree isn’t a requirement the ODSA presents a unique opportunity for people to enter a technical, high-paying career. At the same time they are not expending copious time and resources required by traditional degree programs.
- Sustainable: For the data science community to succeed long term, the ODSA will ensure that:
- Companies with data science teams understand how to use and implement data science into their organizations successfully.
- Individual data scientists’ training is relevant, useable from the start, and continuously developed over time.
- The data science community is sustained and grown through peer and mentor networks, meetups, conferences, and career development opportunities such as job boards, internships, and placement assistance.
Our History
ODSA is Created
In 2016, the data scientists of Contemporary Analysis (CAN), the parent company of the ODSA, realized there was a growing problem in the data community.
Companies were looking for people to work with the oceans of data being generated. The problem was the field was so new there wasn’t structure or clear leadership around how to do projects, who should do them, how to add this capability to companies, or even why capability should be added. Companies realized there was little talent and even fewer who could help companies understand how to measure talent. There were no peers to support new data scientists or mentors to lead those entering the field.
Data scientists were islands in their own companies, trying to find knowledge the best they could.
We realized, in lieu of ready made employees, companies were filling the roles with employees who had most of the skills, but lacked the one or two skills needed to do data science right.
In a sense, companies had inadvertently put themselves and their data science mission in jeopardy. Even worse, they had set up their best employees–the ones that loved their companies enough to volunteer– for failure.
ODSA expands to solve community needs.
CAN decided to build an institution to give direction to the data science community. We wanted to train those brave enough to raise their hand, and to help Omaha’s companies compete nationally and globally. The ODSA was formed to generate the peers, mentors, and professionals–in short, the data science community–Omaha needs.
The Tech Access and Inclusion Fund is created to provide access to all.
In partnership with the Community Foundation of Western Iowa, the Omaha Data Science Academy is creating a scholarship fund that will provide scholarships to up to 50 individuals per year to train as data scientists. The Tech Access and Inclusion Fund has three goals:
- To provide businesses with data scientists to help them make data-driven decisions, operate more efficiently, and be more profitable over the next decade;
- To diversify the data science workforce to better reflect the community’s demographics; and
- To give historically underrepresented, low-income individuals access to a high-paying career that can improve their quality of life and build generational wealth.
Our goal is to have companies, individuals, and the wider community work together can data science become a thriving, lucrative field that will help our city compete globally.
We accomplish our goal by cultivating our community. Because of our efforts, more than a hundred of Omaha’s data scientists are part of our slack channel. Our alumni will have access to our network for both mentorship and support.
PROUDLY SUPPORTING OUR MILITARY MEMBERS
OMAHA DATA SCIENCE ACADEMY
2112 N.30th Street
Omaha NE, 68111