FEU offers data science and business analytics courses

Far Eastern University (FEU) Institute of Technology will offer specializations in data science, business analytics, and innovation and business starting this school year.

The courses are BS Computer Science with specialization in Data Science, BS Information Technology with specialization in Innovation and Business, and BS Information Technology with specialization in Business Analytics.

This year, FEU Tech schools, composed of FEU Alabang, FEU Diliman, and the FEU Institute of Technology, were recognized among the World’s Universities with Real Impact (WURI) Top Global Innovative Universities, which ranks science-and-technology programs based on societal impact.

“All fields will be needing data science,” said Hadji J. Tejuco, an instructor of the college of computer studies and multimedia arts at FEU Tech. “It’s the only way to process the data to provide solutions for complex problems,” he added in an August 2 event by FEU Tech. “Data fed into the system can help us make future projections [too].”

Data science — the collection, preparation, and analysis of data — is linked with artificial intelligence (AI), which is the technology for machines to understand and make intelligent decisions, and machine learning, which are algorithms that help machines improve through supervised and unsupervised learning.

These three are the force behind applications such as the speech recognition abilities of virtual assistants, the web storefronts personalized for each shopper, and the health monitoring of patients via wearable devices.

“The entire idea is to perform result-driven calculations on the data to get insights for business and research,” Mr. Tejuco said.

“Data is your bread and butter,” added Geliza Marie I. Alcober, a fellow FEU Tech instructor at the college of computer studies and multimedia arts.

Disneyland, she pointed out, uses business analytics to give them an idea who a customer’s favorite Disney character is.

“This allows them to ensure your favorite Disney character interacts with you in Disneyland,” she said. “You don’t need magic to create something magical.”

According to Rolan Marco U. Garcia, FEU Tech Group’s chief innovation officer and director for new ventures, the school “puts its money where its mouth is” and invests in the startup ideas of its students with an internal fund.

“We look at the problems these startups want to solve. All innovation starts with that,” he said. “[Then] we look for validity and scalability.”

Students that struggle with the math necessary to study data science can seek help from iCare, FEU’s free tutorial system.

The Philippines placed second-lowest in mathematics among 79 economies that participated in the Program for International Student Assessment, a global study conducted in 2018 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that examined students’ knowledge in reading, math, and science.