Human activity now creates immense tracts of data. What we do online is tracked and increasingly what we do in real life can be tracked. For companies and governments this creates immense possibilities to understand society, customers or technology.

Harnessing this potential requires technical skills, of which maths is perhaps the most significant. In the new information economy, mathematic ability is extremely important.

Much of the work of data analysis is computer driven, utilising software programs or programming languages to organise and analyse data sets. But the underlying analysis is driven by mathematical algorithms and models. As a result, a career in data analysis would benefit greatly from an aptitude for maths.