The Data Science Continuum

Strategic data science follows a process where an organization builds competencies toward high-value analysis. The evolution of becoming a data-driven organization starts with collecting data generated during operational processes. The next step involves describing this data using exploratory techniques such as basic visualizations and summary statistics, which is the domain of traditional business reporting.

Figure 3.1: The data science continuum

After the data is explored and understood, organizations can diagnose business processes to understand causal and logical relationships between variables. The penultimate phase in the continuum is to use knowledge of the past and its causal and logical connections to predict possible futures and construct the desired future. The final stage in the data science journey is a situation where data is used to prescribe day-to-day operations (Figure 3.1).

The continuum is not a journey...