Young data science students at the EXPLORE Data Science Academy receive essential life skills in addition to technical skills as part of their one year full-time course.  The academy believes that a balance of technical and “soft” skills is essential for young graduates when they enter employment for the first time.

Dubbed appropriately as “Thrive”, the EDSA programme is presented by qualified life coaches Nuri Barnard and Megan Hillburn.

Barnard explains, “This programme has been running since day one in 2017.  We consider it to be an essential part of job readiness, particularly for young graduates.  Armed with just technical skills, there are risks that graduates may struggle to integrate into the workplace.  However, having gone through the Thrive programme, we believe they will have the requisite skills to thrive in their new jobs, hence the name.”

Hilburn paints a portrait of a typical student.  “We are bowled over by their off-scale intelligence, great hearts, tenacity and willpower.  But many come from disadvantaged, impoverished backgrounds, some from child-headed households, and are unprepared for a post matric student environment. They have potential galore but often struggle to integrate and cope.  Students even ask themselves, ‘why am I here?’  We call this the ‘Imposter Syndrome.’”  

The Thrive programme consists of a series of modules. “We teach subjects such as self-mastery, motivation, financial management, communication, social and work etiquette, personal and professional development and other skills.  The course is compulsory for all our full time students and we track their performance and progress during the year.  There are no exams or grades as such, but successful completion of the modules is required to graduate,” Barnard adds.

Teamwork is critical and central to Thrive.  Megan explains, “In the work environment, data scientists work in teams and at EDSA we teach students to learn from one another and work together on projects.  It’s a steady process as students begin to realise that they have the ability to succeed in this strange new world.  Our top students regularly report that they learn as much from the people around them as from the coaches.  One graduate put it like this: it was like a light switch being turned on.”

The Thrive course is flexible in the way it deals with students.  “Coaches identify individuals who may be struggling in an area, and we offer them one-on-one coaching,” Hilburn adds.

EDSA also offers data science students the opportunity to study online. “This is obviously not the same as being on a campus, but we offer a modified version of the course online and remote students can interact with coaches when they need us,” Hilburn says.

Thrive is not just a nice-to-have.  It contributes substantially to the success of the EXPLORE Data Science programme itself.  Over 90 percent of its graduates find employment within three months of having completed the course, at above average starting salaries.

From a societal point of view, this type of training impacts entire communities.  “This is critically important when we look at the problem of youth unemployment in the country.  Many of our students are young and the first person in the family to get tertiary education.  This empowers their wider families and ultimately spreads into local communities.  They become role models and demonstrate practically what is possible if you work hard, use your natural talents and set goals.  Often these young people tutor their peers in the local community.  Success can go viral,” Barnard explains.

“South Africa has a massive pool of talented young people.  At EDSA we have proved that.  But, alongside technical skills, we need to produce fully rounded graduates that can make their mark in life as well as at work.  Also important is the way that these stories spread across communities.  Young South Africans need to understand that they have talents and need the confidence to go out there and find ways of using them,” she concludes.

Despite some unpredicted and surprising results during the first weekend in Russia, the South African data scientists at Principa are currently ranking in the top 8th percentile of popular sports predictor site, Superbru. Principa’s football world cup score predictions are done using predictive analytics and machine learning. By applying the same principles used to predict customer behaviour for Principa’s financial services and retail clients, the company’s data scientists are using different algorithms to develop models that can predict the exact score outcome of every match.

As the objective of machine learning is to develop models that can retrain themselves to adapt when exposed to new data, the algorithms will be re-trained with the results of each match to improve the accuracy of the following round’s generated prediction.

Before the start of Match day 2, the company has announced the data-driven predictions of the next matches. The predictions can be viewed on their website: https://wonders.principa.co.za/principa-predicts-football-world-cup-2018

Principa will continue to post predictions on their website as well as via their Twitter (@PrincipaD) and Facebook accounts. A record of all predictions and the actual results will also be made available on the company's website.Principa have also created an overview of some of the more interesting insights discovered during the data preparations: https://wonders.principa.co.za/football-world-cup-2018-statistics

About Principa: Principa Decisions (Pty) Ltd. work wonders with data science to serve over 150 companies in 30 countries in Africa, Middle East and Europe.Principa’s data science solutions help customers answer questions about the past and present to anticipate future outcomes. Our data scientists, developers and consultants work together to develop data analytics products and solutions that derive answers, predictions and recommended actions from large and complex data. The data insights derived provide the information and knowledge from which to develop more effective strategies, increase efficiency and profitability and decrease cost and risk.

Media enquiries: Estee Schroeder, 021 680 6341, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Using predictive analytics and machine learning, South African based data analytics company, Principa, are predicting the results of this year’s FIFA Football World Cup. By applying the same principles used to predict customer behaviour for Principa’s financial services and retail clients, the company’s data scientists are using different algorithms to develop models that can predict the exact score outcome of every match.

As the objective of machine learning is to develop models that can retrain themselves to adapt when exposed to new data, the algorithms will be re-trained with the results of each match to improve the accuracy of the following round’s generated prediction.

Before the start of the World Cup in Russia on Thursday, the company has announced the data-driven predictions, which can be viewed on their website: https://wonders.principa.co.za/principa-predicts-football-world-cup-2018

Principa will continue to post predictions on their website as well as via their Twitter (@PrincipaD) and Facebook accounts. A record of all predictions and the actual results will also be made available on the company's website.

Principa have also created an overview of some of the more interesting insights discovered during the data preparations: https://wonders.principa.co.za/football-world-cup-2018-statistics

About Principa: Principa Decisions (Pty) Ltd. work wonders with data science to serve over 150 companies in 30 countries in Africa, Middle East and Europe.Principa’s data science solutions help customers answer questions about the past and present to anticipate future outcomes. Our data scientists, developers and consultants work together to develop data analytics products and solutions that derive answers, predictions and recommended actions from large and complex data. The data insights derived provide the information and knowledge from which to develop more effective strategies, increase efficiency and profitability and decrease cost and risk.

Media enquiries: Estee Schroeder, 021 680 6341, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.