Big and Alternative Data

This course gives an overview of issues in Big and Alternative data: its actual and potential uses, cleaning and normalisation (‘munging’), storage and architecture.

Suitability

This course is for tech analysts and S&T analysts (optionally).

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

Define cluster based computing and the common tools used in that space (Hadoop, Spark);
Comment on technical and operational issues around big data uses and storage
Describe uses of alternative data as proxies for ‘traditional’, usually belated macro- and microeconomic indicators such as GDP, earnings, oil prices, etc

Course Content

Overview of technologies and industry jargon with illustrative examples
- Big data
- Alternative data
- Unstructured data
Issues in the analysis of large data sets
- Dimensionality reduction
- Computing with a cluster
The MapReduce model, Hadoop and Spark (and how to use these from Python/R)
Alternative data
- Example sources and applications
- Focus on web-scraping: example methods and potential risks/ pitfalls
- Potential weaknesses of alternative data sources
Unstructured data
Natural Language Processing (NLP) in Python/R
- Case study: sentiment analysis in Python/R

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90%

of a cohort was promoted within 2 years after participating in an Alpha course.

96%

of participants felt more confident in their role, following an Alpha commercial leadership course.

Why study with Alpha?

Innovation and creativity born from experience

We are thought leaders in instructional and learning journey design and holistic solution architects. We have extensive finance and investments experience combined with skills application to deliver performance improving results. We develop immersive learning environments that maximize time to productivity, support talent retention and added value to improving quality of hires.

Knowledge Exchange Evangelists

We are focused on mining the embedded organisational intellectual capital for the benefit of the next generation. We create and curate best in class practice gathered from our experience with the leading financial institutions. We design our programmes with the end in mind – what results are you trying to achieve with this intervention? What metrics will we set ourselves to achieve that?

Generation Proof

Quality and innovation, using current market and industry best practices, have made us a trusted partner in delivering dynamic and motivating training for the financial and capital markets. Our programmes are generation proof and responsive to evolving learner needs and styles. Our solutions use a multi-stakeholder engagement strategy that expands beyond relationships between the learner and learning provider. We create connections with managers, peers and the wider business to drive impactful return on investment..

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