The first cohort of data scientists to complete the new, defined standard of professionalism from the Alliance for Data Science Professionals are to receive an award at a special ceremony at the Royal Society on July 12th.

The National Statistician Sir Ian Diamond said:


The AfDSP was set up in 2020 to address the multidisciplinary nature of data science. These new industry-wide standards cover a wide range of issues, including good data management, effective problem solving with data, and managing risks such as data breaches, misuse, or bias in datasets.

The Alliance comprises six organisations: the Royal Statistical Society, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, the Operational Research Society, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, the Alan Turing Institute, and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL).

The AfDSP chairperson, and the RSS Vice-president for Professional Affairs, Professor Rachel Hilliam, CStat, CMath, said the standards would help build public trust in data scientists. She added:


One of the candidates to achieve the new standards is Dr Sophie Carr, Founder and Owner of Bays Consulting, an analytics company. She said:

All the Alliance's member societies developed the standards collaboratively, which followed an earlier discussion between the RSS and BCS.

Stian Westlake, Chief Executive of the RSS, added:

Mayank Prakash, President of the BCS, said:

This was echoed by Gavin Blackett FORS, Executive Director of the OR Society, who said:

Professor Paul Glendinning FRSE FIMA, the IMA President, said that mathematics underpins much of data science.

The former Research Director of The Alan Turing Institute, Professor Andrew Blake, will present the awards.

Dr Matt Forshaw, Senior Advisor for Skills at The Alan Turing Institute and Reader in Data Science at Newcastle University, said: "The Alliance is already playing a significant role in establishing and upholding the professional values necessary to ensure ethical, fair, and safe professional practices around data and AI.

Dr Peter Thompson, FREng, FInstP, FRSC, CEO of NPL, said he was "delighted at the achievements and expertise of the inaugural cohort, including many data scientists at NPL". He added:

The founding of AfDSP was backed by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said:

Professor Sir Jim McDonald FREng, FRSE, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: