A lot has been said about the benefits of Big Data. Now the technology has one of the biggest possible backers – the entire United States. The county has big plans for Big Data and needs proper data scientists.

“We are at the first step in making data work for every American. It’s only going to make a difference when people like you step up. And then show that it’s not just feasible, but scalable”, said DJ Patil. He is the US chief data scientist and had a keynote at the Strata+Hadoop World conference, quoted by ComputerWorld.

Big Data will benefit the real world, too

Also, Patil says he wants to “responsibly unleash the power of data to benefit all Americans”. This means he has to find the balance between how much and what info is collected and how it is used. He says he’s focused on several key areas for a start: avoiding epidemics, highway safety, precision medicine. He also wants to improve education.

“We firmly believe that every student has to have the opportunity to understand computers and to learn how to code. It’s one of the basic tenets of living in our new economy”, he added.

Aside from the obvious technology challenges, like infrastructure, there’s one big main obstacle. Sadly, there aren’t enough skilled people to drive the Big Data expansion. Hence why the White House is urging people to explore a career in this field.

Also, Data Scientists have to undertake ethics and security trainings as well, he says. It’s time to take ownership and focus on the individual. “If you do, you’ll always be right, and we can really transform this country in an unbelievably awesome way”, he said.

Image credit: Flickr (CC) / KamiPhuc