Thoughtworks joins as industry collaborator in Data Analytics Career Accelerator

Leading global technology consultancy, Thoughtworks, has become the latest employer partner to join the Data Analytics Career Accelerator, a new programme being developed by The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in collaboration with online education company FourthRev.

Set out as a specific skill in need earlier this year by the UK Government, there will be an estimated 20 million data analyst roles required by 2025 globally. This, combined with Thoughtworks’ research showing that just 40 percent of CEOs worldwide regard their own knowledge of data strategy as ‘good’, points to the fact that companies are eager to address the issue.

The six-month career accelerator will train students from a range of different backgrounds and disciplines to develop holistic data analysis skills. It will be designed and developed by expert faculty from LSE’s Departments of Statistics and Department of Methodology, in collaboration with leading industry partners to ensure outcomes align with industry demand. The programme will introduce core concepts of data analysis and develop data-handling capabilities.

In the final stage of the Career Accelerator, learners will work directly with an employer to apply the analytical skills that they learn and build their portfolio of evidence. As an industry partner joining the programme, Thoughtworks will provide projects designed to simulate real-world situations and which are focussed on issues that support Thoughtworks’ approaches and values. These will allow students to apply their newly acquired knowledge in an authentic business scenario, as well as develop their collaboration and communication skills.

Danilo Sato, Head of Data & AI Services UK at Thoughtworks says:

“Data strategy now sits at the heart of successful digital organizations, and these highly prized data analytics skills are essential to a company’s success. We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with a university as renowned as LSE. At Thoughtworks, we strive to hire and nurture future-fit talent equipped with the competencies and skills needed to thrive in the digital economy. We believe that a programme of this kind is one step closer to helping both us and other organizations resolve the digital skills gap.” 

Dr James Abdey, Programme Coordinator and Associate Professorial Lecturer in Statistics at LSE says: 

“The powerful combination of expertise from LSE faculty with industry experience is at the heart of the Data Analytics Career Accelerator and we are delighted to welcome Thoughtworks as collaborators on the programme.” 

While this programme is specific to data analytics, the Career Accelerator model was developed by FourthRev to offer learners a launch pad for careers in the digital economy. 

Omar de Silva, Co-Founder of FourthRev notes:

“The collaboration between world-leading universities, tech companies and employers is central to these online programmes. This approach combines the robustness and recognition of a world-leading university education alongside the best job-focused technical education, designed by top industry and employers. Thoughtworks’ perspective will help to ensure that course projects meet the expectations of industry.” 

Methodology: Research referenced was carried out online by Maru/Blue in February 2021. It surveyed nearly 1,000 C-Suite decision makers, comprising of CEOs, CIOs and CTOs across 12 countries, all markets where Thoughtworks has a significant market presence and can provide market commentary (USA, UK, Germany, China, Australia, India, Brazil, Singapore, Italy, Romania, Finland and Netherlands) and across seven sectors.