Statistical Computing in Information Society

Abstract

In the presence of massive data coming with high heterogeneity we need to change our statistical thinking and statistical education in order to adapt both - classical statistics and software developments that address new challenges. Significant developments include open data, big data, data visualisation, and they are changing the nature of the evidence that is available, the ways in which it is presented and the skills needed for its interpretation. The amount of information is not the most important issue – the real challenge is the combination of the amount and the complexity of data. Moreover, a need arises to know how uncertain situations should be dealt with and what decisions should be taken when information is insufficient (which can also be observed for large datasets). In the paper we discuss the idea of computational statistics as a new approach to statistical teaching and we try to answer a question: how we can best prepare the next generation of statisticians.