Data Science vs. Cyber Security Career Opportunities in Government Sector

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Data Science or Cyber Security Career Opportunities in Government Sector

Data Science or Cyber Security Career Opportunities in Government Sector
- Posted On 2024-08-27
There are incredible opportunities for aspirants who are looking to build careers in the data science and cyber security field. Both domains offer significant chances to grow professionally. Data science is increasingly making waves through its vast applicability in the public sector and government departments. The government is upgrading its platforms by integrating data-centric technologies and analytical capabilities to improve the delivery of services, public safety, legal system, and defence. Similarly, the popularity of cyber security has also grown multifold in government divisions and public sector units. Cyber security experts are essential to secure the public digital environment. The Indian government has created robust policies and cyber laws to protect its extensive online community and needs the services of cyber security professionals to mitigate any cyber threat to their digital assets.

Applications of Data Science in the Government Sector

Data science holds potential use cases that can be applied across domains in the public sector. Some of the most interesting applications that have been implemented are:
- Banking and Finance - Data science has led to a revolution in the banking and financial industry with applications such as customer lifecycle value prediction, customer segmentation, risk analytics, fraud detection, churn prevention, loan default prediction, stress testing, and many more.
- Agriculture - India is predominantly an agricultural country and the government has started increasing their investment in technology upgradation to help improve farming. Data science also plays its part through various utilities in agriculture such as crop monitoring, water management, crop forecasting, soil analysis, precision farming and food safety.
- Education - Data science is empowering the smooth learning process by enabling data-driven prediction of student performance, adaptive learning techniques, identifying students who need special attention, predicting the correct skill sets of a student, and teacher evaluation.
- Revenue - The most effective usage of data analytics has been in the collection of taxes. The income tax collection process has been transformed through the integration of data science capabilities. It has made recoveries of outstanding amounts quite easy. Moreover, the tax department is now utilizing both financial and social media data to examine the profile of the taxpayer with the income and expenses thereby reducing the chances of possible tax evasion.
What are the government jobs available for Data Scientists

Government and public sector firms have realized the value of data science and the need to induct data science or data analytics professionals in their departments. Hence, many employment opportunities have been created by the government in these sectors. Some of the important job positions available have been listed below:
1. Data scientist and Data analyst - There are openings for data scientist and data analyst roles at many public sector enterprises including the Geological Survey of India (GSI), various ministries such as the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Digital India Corporation (DIC) under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), public sector banks, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Niti Aayog and Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Ministry of Finance (MOF), NTPC.
2. Data engineer - Data engineers usually work in tandem with data scientists to process and store large complex data. Government departments such as Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, public sector banks, National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), Niti Ayog, University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), various state government departments, National Institute of Fashion Technology hire data engineers.
3. Big data engineer, Data architect and Cloud specialist - Huge amount of public data is being generated each day requiring the services of big data engineers and data architects in government organizations. Some of the prominent organizations hiring big data engineers and cloud architects include the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), public sector banks, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), National eGovernance Division and state government departments, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Ministry of Science and Technology.
Applications of Cyber Security in the Government Sector

Some of the prominent applications of cybersecurity in the government sector include:
- Emergency response team - The Indian computer emergency response team (CERT-In) established by the government helps in controlling cyber incidents and synchronizing response activities. This team is responsible for vulnerability handling, incident response and security management of cyberspace in India.
- Safeguarding electronic payments - Cyber security is helping secure payments across banks and financial institutions thus reducing cyber crimes in the banking sector.
- Prevention of child abuse and cyberstalking - Cyber security also protects against child abuse, cyberstalking, divulgence of sensitive videos and personal photographs, online presence, fake impersonations, and protection of communication channels such as mobiles and laptops from illegal access.
What are the Government Jobs available for Cybersecurity Professionals

The government sector has immense opportunities for cybersecurity experts, as everything is now online and the public data needs to be protected at all times. We have mentioned a few prominent job positions that are in demand:
1. Information security consultant/Information security analyst - As an information security consultant or analyst you will be responsible for supporting information security and privacy programs. Government departments hiring information security consultants or analysts include National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology, Indian computer emegency response team (CERT-In), various public sector banks, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre, DRDO, Indian army
2. Cyber security analyst - You will be responsible for understanding common vulnerabilities exposure, assessment, penetration tests and data security. There are opportunities for cyber security analysts in various public sector banks, Indian computer emegency response team (CERT-In), National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeiTY), Intelligence Bureau, Department of Telecom, DRDO, India army.
3. Chief information security officer and Security architect - These are senior positions in the cybersecurity domain in government sector jobs.
Conclusion

The government has noticed the potential of data science and cybersecurity in the public sector and is harnessing the prospects of both these fields to address issues of data protection and public service delivery. Please have a glance at the important job roles in the data science and cybersecurity fields that we have highlighted in this article.