IBA launches MS in Data Science

The Institute of Business Administration launched a Masters in Data Science Program designed by the Computer Science department and would begin its first session year in August 2020.

The MS program, which will lead to a Ph.D., will allow students to take up a thesis along with their course work, which would comprise of four semesters of 30 credit hours. The program also aims to facilitate students from the non-computer science background. However, the program will offer some foundation level courses to students enabling them to come on par with their classmates.

The program will equip students with the tools and expertise needed in the booming field of machine learning, statistics, and big data analytics. Dr. Shakeel Khoja, the head of the department Computer Science, said that the aim of launching the program is to prepare our new generation for the areas of statistical modeling, management, and visualization of massive data, software engineering, and data ethics.

“The program prepares students to extract valuable insights from data and offers rigorous training to handle big data problems,” said Dr. Khoja.

While talking to a local media channel, Executive Director IBA Dr. S Akbar Zaidi said, “The advancement in artificial intelligence, communications, and robotics across the globe has led to the high demand of data scientists. Although Pakistan lies at the onset of this development, an increasing need is being felt in the software industry and service sectors like financial institutions, telecommunication organizations, healthcare providers, and multinationals to produce a trained workforce.”

He added that this most-sought program would set a new target for other universities. With the addition of MS Data Science, the IBA Karachi will now be offering nine graduate, six undergraduate and three postgraduate programs. The admission to various programs for fall 2020 is currently open.