Ph. Dialogue「博士人材セミナー」は、Ph. Discover連携企業からゲストを迎え「博士課程修了者が企業でどのように活躍しているのか」「企業は博士人材に何を求めているのか」についてお話してもらい、後半はゲストと学生が対話を通して交流する企画です。記念すべき第1回目、和田陽一郎さん（株式会社データフォーシーズ）をお迎えしたPh. Dialogueを紹介します。
Data Four Seeds Co., Ltd.:
Since its founding in 2005, it has solved customer problems through the social implementation of data science, regardless of the industry or business, such as marketing, finance, and medical care. It is also active in hiring Ph.D., and has doctoral personnel from a wide range of majors.
Arrival of super smart society
Hello, this is Wada. I will briefly talk about data science and Ph.D.
You may have heard about the super smart society. To put it simply, it is a future society where artificial intelligence will help us with the things that humans have worked so hard up until now.
Artificial intelligence, now called the third generation, makes optimal decisions according to the knowledge and rules obtained from big data analysis. A society that becomes more convenient by setting this 3rd generation artificial intelligence in various places in the world is called a super smart society.
Data science to extract knowledge from data
Analyzing big data and extracting knowledge and laws is a major role of data science. For example, let's say you have a job to check tens of thousands of documents. It is possible to imitate the checking method and mathematically model the judgment pattern. Once that mathematical model is incorporated into artificial intelligence, machines will be able to do the checks that humans used to do. A data scientist's job is to derive knowledge and rules from big data, implement them in artificial intelligence, and summarize them in reports to make them useful.
The power of the doctor comes to life in my work
The work of analyzing data and deriving knowledge is basically the same as research in a doctoral course, except that the research subjects are corporate issues and data. Therefore, I think it is a perfect job for people who enjoy learning about the nature and mechanisms inherent in the world.
I received a question from everyone in advance, "Is it possible to work in the data science industry without having an information background?" The answer is yes. In my doctoral course, I was engaged in research on photofunctional proteins, and the technical skills I had at the time were the construction of optical systems using lasers and photodetectors, which was far from data science. However, the way of thinking, the way of doubting things, the way of demonstrating, and the way of holding hypotheses, which I learned through my research, are very useful in my current work. Data scientist is one of the professions where Ph.D.
Implementing data science everywhere in society
Among them, Data Four Seeds is a company that implements data science in society. We offer a wide range of services from finance to medicine. If you have a problem and data, you can handle any field in a sense. Recently, there are a wide variety of people who receive jobs, such as local governments, trading companies, life insurance companies, and chemical manufacturers.
コミュニケーションタイム
Mental strength cultivated as a doctor
Q: Do you have any examples where your PhD experience has come to life right now?
Wada: The work of analyzing data and deriving knowledge is similar to experimentation and analysis in a doctoral course, so it is overwhelmingly useful. If I had to add one more thing, it would be strong mental strength. I think that mental toughness is overwhelmingly strong because I completed the doctoral course without worrying about whether I would be able to get a doctorate.
Explore your interests and enjoyment
Q: I think it's important for the data industry to keep learning new things. Isn't it hard?
Wada: Personally, I try to learn things that excite me, rather than new things. If it's something that excites me, I don't mind learning it.
Q: If I want to be a data scientist, should I start studying data science during my PhD?
Wada: If you think studying data science is fun, please do so. But I don't think it's necessary. In my personal opinion, if you want to work to implement data science in society, what is important is whether you can be interested in society. I think so. If you don't have an interest in society, it's not interesting to talk about finance or business. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to get in touch with various news and read books.
I chose data science to make the most of the skills I gained from my Ph.D.
Q: I would like to ask you in detail why you decided to go into the field of data science, which is different from your own specialty, after completing your doctorate.
Wada: On a personal note, I've been involved in activities that don't generate much money, such as volunteer activities, since I was young. Through these experiences, of course, I felt the greatness of such activities, but I also felt the weakness of activities that do not generate cash flow. Activities that are not economically viable tend to be unsustainable. While I felt that there was a kind of wall in the activities I had been doing, I felt that I wanted to be involved in the economic activities of the world. So, what are the skills you have that are involved in economic activities? After thinking about it, I arrived at the power of demonstrating from where there is data. At the time, the word data science didn't even exist, but to be honest, I chose to use the skills I acquired in my Ph.D.
deal with anxiety
Q: Were you worried about that decision?
和田：当時はとても不安でしたよ。今だって不安です。アカデミックに進んでも研究テーマが立ち消えたら仕事が無くなるように、私もいつお役御免になるかわからないです。ただ、不安であることは悪い事ではないと思うんですよ。不安である事を認めないのは、かえって不健康だと感じます。こんなに時代がどんどん変わっているわけですから、「安心」ってのが一種の虚構のように感じます。虚構である「安心」を求め、「不安」から逃げる事に過度に力を使い過ぎて、不健康になっては元も子もありません。不安である自分を受け入れた上で、楽しく、したたかに、不安と付き合って生きていくのが良いのではないでしょうか。
Launch: January 19, 2021
Organizer: Ph. Discover
Co-organizer: Hokkaido UniversityFaculty of Science/Hokkaido University Center for Mathematics and Data Science (Data-related Human Resource Development Program) / Hokkaido University Doctoral Program for Materials Science Leading Program