Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA)

Alliance for Data Science Professionals (AfDSP)

Mathematical Association (MA)

Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA)

My involvement with the IMA includes:

Membership of the:

Support for the Mathematics Teacher Training Scholarships, including: articles on:

Alliance for Data Science Professionals

Some information about Learned Society Professional Professional Standards, Recognition, Certification and Accreditation, in this area.

The skills of data scientists are increasingly in demand, which was highlighted in the: 

a)       Royal Society's Dynamics of data science skills report 

b)       The Era of Mathematics - the Bond Review of Knowledge Exchange 

c)       Government White Paper -National Data Strategy 

d)       Quantifying the UK Data Skills Gap Report

In part in response to this, the Learned Societies: BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT; The Operational Research Society; The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications; The Royal Statistical Society; as well as The Turing Institute; National Physical Laboratory, with support from The Royal Society and The Royal Academy of Engineering, have come together to form an Alliance for Data Science Professionals. (See the IMA page announcing this.) 

I am the a member of the Governance Board, the Professional Accreditation and Standards Committee, and the Operations Committee, of the Alliance where we have developed a Standard for certification at the Advanced Data Scientist and Data Scientist levels.

 We also plan to accredit Data Science & other degrees which meet the Alliance’s Degree Accreditation requirements for undergraduate Bachelors and Masters, and Postgraduate Masters programmes, which are aligned with the Standard at the level of Data Science Professional. I am the Chair of the Alliance Degree Accreditation Group and leading on developing and introducing Degree Accreditation.

 At the IMA I have led and I am responsible for the Advanced Data Science Certification (see also application form) and I am Chair of the Panels of Assessors for this.

It is planned for:

(a) Advanced Data Professional (AdvDSP) to become a Chartered Designation in Data Science CDSP (like CMath, CSci, CMathTeach, which I am responsible for at the IMA as Honorary Secretary and Chair of relevant committees for these)

(b) Data Science degrees to be accredited by the Alliance.

In a report for the Transatlantic Data Science Academy (TDSA), I am quoted:

"Professor Paul Glaister CBE from the Alliance for Data Science Professionals said:

Following the successful launch of the standard leading to the Advanced Data Science Professional certificate for individuals in 2022, the Alliance are pleased to announce the introduction of the university standard for accrediting UK-based degree programmes. With applications planned to be accepted in the first half of 2025 and the planned recognition of the Advanced Data Science Professional certification as a Chartered title, there is now a clear pathway of standards and competencies at every level within the field of data science. The Alliance see these next steps as key to achieving their original goal of helping to shape the profession of data science. We are excited about working with the Transatlantic Data Science Academy Scoping Project."

 Our launch was on July 12 2022, with a main press release. (See also, among others.)

 We had two quotes (which I personally secured) from two individuals prominent in this area:

 Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said:

 “The work of the Alliance for Data Science Professionals is very welcome. Industry-wide standards and certification can play an important role in ensuring that ethics and good governance are properly embedded across the data science profession.

 “They have the potential to both raise the quality of data-driven insights and provide confidence to the public over how their data is being used."

 The National Statistician, Sir Ian Diamond, said:

 “In recent years there has been exponential growth in the use of data science in the public sector. Innovations in data science can reap great rewards, and enable better use of data in decision making and analysis that can benefit everyone—as ONS’ Data Science Campus has recently shown on topics as diverse as the cost of living and tracking the busyness of urban centres in real-time using machine learning!

 “To this end, data scientists have never been more needed or more helpful in delivering for the public good. I am delighted to see the launch of the Alliance for Data Science Professionals: this will help develop and provide the data science skills we need to deliver transformational benefits in the public sector and will bring together data scientists from across many disciplines and professions where it is currently being incubated. I ultimately hope that this will help us better harness data science for good in the public sector.”

You can read more about the Alliance and our collective vision as learned societies and other partners in our MoU along with the Standard and Levels all of the Learned Societies: BCS, RSS, ORS and IMA will be assessing against.

The Alliance for Data Science Professionals were chosen as a finalist for the 2024 British Data Awards. See my quote on the IMA page.

Mathematical Association

I have a long association with the 153 year old leading mathematics subject association - the Mathematical Association.

I am the President-Elect of the Mathematical Association in 2024 and will become the President in 2025 (see also the University of Reading News story.

I will be the 107th President in a list comprising many giants in the world of mathematics, including Professor GH Hardy FRS, Professor Sir James Lighthill FRS, Professor Sir Michael Atiyah OM FRS and Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman FRS, and more recently Professor Nira Chamberlain OBE and Professor Hannah Fry HonFREng.