Data science, Cybersecurity & Metaverse future of higher education

Higher education is evolving continuously with the new age of digital exploration. Even though metaverse has been in existence for decades, it is now gaining heavy traction. Along with that, data science and cybersecurity are in trends and have also captured the attention of the IT world.

Cybersecurity, data science and the metaverse are exponential markets, where the global market size of cybersecurity is estimated to reach around $370 billion by 2028 growing at a CAGR of 12% from $153.16 billion in 2020, while the global data science market is expected to value a little over $80 billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 11.1% and the global metaverse market is predicted to expand at a CAGR of 41.7% from 2021 to 2030.

With these next big technologies and fast-growing lucrative market, it is essential to reinvent the higher education of tomorrow to shape and future proof it with the advancing technologies like data science, cybersecurity and the metaverse.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a practice that aims to protect networks, systems and programs from harmful digital attacks. These attacks usually access, change or destroy information that is sensitive and use it to extort money or use it to disrupt the flow of business if any. Cybersecurity in higher education will play a crucial role as the data of the students as well as teachers are sensitive in nature and need to be protected when all the data is stored online. Since over the years attackers have developed many innovative ideas, it causes tension in the higher education system.

Data science

Data Science is a field that uses scientific methods and processes using algorithms and systems. It attracts the insights, knowledge from structured and unstructured data. Data science applies the knowledge and insights acquired from this data to take action against a broad range of application domains. The techniques used by data science vary from the field of statistics, computer science, domain knowledge, etc. The implementation of data science in higher education will benefit the education system greatly. The future of data scientists, easy checking of plagiarism, implementation in research work are some ways data science will enhance the future world.

Metaverse

Metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds which focuses on social connection. In the previous years, metaverse has been popular in the fiction world and now has gained its popularity in various virtual platforms. Metaverse includes technologies of virtual reality and augmented reality which aims to combine the physical and digital world. Metaverse has created its own space that even higher education have engaged in building technologies in the education system. Due to technological advancement and education classes being in a hybrid mode, metaverse will help the education system greatly by using virtual and augmented reality.

Emerging technologies and higher education

The future of higher education is more about hyper personalisation, with data science, metaverse and cybersecurity solutions. In the growing ecosystem of digital spaces, networks, metaverse are even deeper and would influence our daily activities and interactions in both physical and virtual worlds. This already has implications for higher education because of the ways in which it can be accessed by learners, ways in which information is created and ways the learners will interact and connect with one another.

Data Science adds benefit to semi structured and unstructured data: -

Data science on the other hand adds to the benefit of making more informed decisions about every individual student and analysing the data to improve outcomes. It requires skills of math, computer science and a lot more to understand what would drive a student's behaviour. Higher education is most likely to benefit with continuous real-time recommendations with semi structured and unstructured data to learn from the metaverse and aid in predicting the future outcomes.

Cybersecurity is integral part of digital world: -

Cybersecurity will aid in securing the metaverse to protect the metaverse and the data from vulnerability. A decade from now cybersecurity would become an integral part in higher education. As hackers will be lurking behind every window screen, technology giants would take over higher education's cybersecurity. This would leverage campus technologies, computing power with the collaboration of higher education.

Technologies are under continues upgradation: -

These technologies are still being developed, still being transformed to enable cybersecurity, data science and the metaverse to achieve new heights. As these technologies come with a huge learning curve for higher education, these technologies are the future and organisations need to prepare enough to make sense of this new technological world.

(The author is the Chancellor Sanskriti University)