E-Business
Data Scientists Reveal Roadblocks to Digital Transformation
Digital transformation has accelerated significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the extra demands on data scientists have revealed significant barriers to effective working and high levels of job dissatisfaction in some areas.
For example, around four in 10 are dissatisfied with their company’s use of analytics and model deployment, while more than 20 barriers to effective working emerged, according to a survey of data scientists commissioned by analytics leader SAS.
However, the work of data scientists has grown in importance with many organisations accelerating digital transformation projects by using technology to improve business operations.
More than 90% of respondents indicated the importance of their work was the same or greater compared to before the pandemic.
To delve deeper into the state of data science, the report assesses the impact of the pandemic, challenges faced, overall satisfaction with the analytics environment and more.
The research showed the pandemic upended standard business practices, shifting the assumptions and variables in models and predictive algorithms and causing a ripple effect of adaptations in processes, practices and operating parameters.
More than two-thirds of respondents were satisfied with the outcomes from analytical projects.
However, 42% of data scientists were dissatisfied with their company’s use of analytics and model deployment, suggesting a problem with how analytical insights are used by organisations to inform decision making.
This was backed up by 42% saying data science results were not used by business decision makers, making it one of the main barriers faced.
The survey also highlighted some specific skills gaps. Less than a third of the respondents reported having advanced or expert proficiency in program-heavy skills, such as cloud management and database administration.
This is an issue given that use of cloud services is up significantly, with 94% saying they experienced the same or greater use of cloud since COVID-19 struck.
“There have clearly been more demands placed on data scientists as the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation projects that many organisations were planning anyway,” said Dr. Iain Brown, head of Data Science at SAS UK and Ireland.
“A major source of frustration is finding a way for organisations to implement the insights from analytics projects and use them in their decision making, which means giving data scientists a seat at the boardroom table might be a way forward.”
“Linked to this, we found concerns around support for data science teams and a lack of talent, which has been an issue for some time with demand outstripping supply. Organisations must realise that investing in a team of data scientists with complementary skills could reap huge value for the business, so the cost of hiring needs to consider the return on that investment as we move to significantly more digital and AI-driven business processes,” continued Brown.
The research also identified gaps in consistent organisational emphasis on AI ethics, with 43% of respondents indicating that their organisation does not conduct specific reviews of its analytical processes with respect to bias and discrimination and only 26% of respondents reporting that unfair bias is used as a measure of model success in their organisation.
When it comes to the challenges identified to ensure fair and unbiased decision making, Dr. Sally Eaves, an industry expert, said, “Data scientists can lend their expertise to craft working guidelines for data access, usage security, and broader issues, such as sustainability and data ethics and bias.”
“Rather than sometimes hoping they are given appropriate, clean data and relying too much on the technology to drive fair outcomes, they can play an active role to put in place the right guidelines and checks at each stage of the analytical process to try and eliminate bias. Having a transparent and explainable flow from data to decision is obviously key to this,” said Eaves.
The research revealed positive outcomes from the global disruption of the pandemic. Nearly three-quarters (73%) said they are just as productive or more productive since the pandemic, while a similar proportion (77%) revealed they had the same or greater collaboration with colleagues. This suggests many of the challenges highlighted were in existence, possibly to a greater degree, before the pandemic.
Other challenges experienced were the amount of time spent on data preparation versus model creation. Respondents are spending more of their time (58%) than they would prefer gathering, exploring, managing and cleaning data.
“Overall, the data scientist has ample reason to feel empowered and optimistic about how the pandemic has shone a spotlight on the importance of their role within their organisation and how it might evolve over time,” said Brown. “This holds especially true if data scientists can leverage the whole spectrum of available tools to manage the analytics lifecycle, pursue data science training and skill development opportunities, and embrace data prep as the first step in modelling.”
Additional findings and discussion points, including strategies for data scientists to improve processes and outcomes, are available in the full report: Accelerating Digital Transformation.
Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of Interior, has announced the launch of an Online Visa Approval Center to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and reduce corruption in the visa application process.
Commissioned by the President in December, the new system ensures that applicants no longer need to visit a visa office, know anyone in the system, or lobby for approvals.
At a stakeholders’ sensitisation workshop on the implementation of the Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) 2025, yesterday in Abuja, Dr. Tunji-Ojo said the visa is considered a very important document by the government because it is an instrument of migration management and an instrument of economic development.
The minister explained that Nigeria has to strike a delicate balance between national security and, of course, the ease of migration.
“And we think that it’s something that we can do and something we will do.
“We don’t have a physical Visa Approval Center. If you apply for a Nigerian visa anywhere in the world, you do so online. We process it here in Nigeria, and if approved, you receive your e-visa in your email,” he explained.
To enhance efficiency, the government has set a 48-hour deadline for processing e-visas.
“It is unprofessional and unacceptable for the Nigeria Immigration Service not to approve or provide feedback within 48 hours,” the minister stated.
“It breaks my heart that people need to lobby to even get visas to Nigeria. It shouldn’t be so. It shouldn’t be.
“For anybody that is qualified, for anybody that wants to do legitimate activities in Nigeria, such people should be able to come to Nigeria easily. And this is why we are opening our space. Mr. President is interested in foreign direct investments.”
Further, he said Nigeria is interested in partnering with the rest of the world to develop its economy but, “We can’t do that when we allow bottlenecks to hold us down. So these reforms, basically, are aimed at opening our space, enhancing national security, and we hope that the primary responsibilities of the visa scheme will be achieved.”
Kemi Nandap, controller general, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), said the NIS would fully digitize its e-visa platform and reduce visa classifications from 79 to 44 to enhance accessibility, transparency, and efficiency in the new visa policy.
She said, “At the core of this policy is the new e-visa platform—a fully digitized, centralized system that revolutionizes how foreign nationals interact with our country’s entry procedures. As part of this transformation, the Nigerian Visa Policy 2024 underwent a comprehensive review, resulting in a significant reduction in visa classifications from 79 to 44.
“These categories have been logically grouped to simplify procedures, reduce complexities, and greatly improve the user experience. Importantly, we have maintained the original purpose and intent of each visa class throughout this reform.”
Mr. Takao Shimokawa, director general, Economic Development Department at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has visited the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to discuss the forthcoming launch of the Nigeria-Japan Startup Hub Project.
Mr. Dejo Olawunmi, director of IT Infrastructure Solutions at NITDA and Mr. Takao Shimokawa, director general, Economic Development Department at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
This is in a strategic move to strengthen Nigeria’s startup ecosystem.
During his visit, Mr. Shimokawa was received by Mr. Dejo Olawunmi, director of IT Infrastructure Solutions at NITDA.
Their discussions focused on advancing technological innovation, fostering entrepreneurship, and enhancing venture capital development to support early-stage startups in Nigeria.
The Nigeria-Japan Startup Hub Project is designed to provide Nigerian startups with access to Japanese expertise, mentorship, and investment opportunities.
The initiative aims to create a collaborative environment where local entrepreneurs can scale their businesses by leveraging Japan’s advanced technology and business models.
By bridging Nigerian startups with Japanese investors and industry leaders, the project seeks to drive sustainable growth and innovation in Nigeria’s tech industry.
This partnership underscores the increasing economic and technological cooperation between the two nations, positioning Nigeria as a key player in the global startup landscape.
With the hub set to launch soon, stakeholders anticipate that it will provide critical resources for startups, enabling them to compete in the global market and contribute to Nigeria’s digital economy.
Kaspersky has identified and helped patch a sophisticated zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome (CVE-2025-2783) that allowed attackers to bypass the browser’s sandbox protection system.
The exploit, discovered by Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT), required no user interaction beyond clicking a malicious link and demonstrated exceptional technical complexity. Kaspersky researchers have been acknowledged by Google for discovering and reporting this vulnerability.
In mid-March 2025, Kaspersky detected a wave of infections triggered when users clicked personalised phishing links delivered via email. After clicking, no additional action was needed to compromise their systems.
Once Kaspersky’s analysis confirmed that the exploit leveraged a previously unknown vulnerability in the latest version of Google Chrome, Kaspersky swiftly alerted Google’s security team. A security patch for the vulnerability was released on March 25, 2025.
Kaspersky researchers dubbed the campaign “Operation ForumTroll”, as attackers sent personalised phishing emails inviting recipients to the “Primakov Readings” forum. These lures targeted media outlets, educational institutions, and government organisations in Russia.
The malicious links were extremely short-lived to evade detection, and in most cases ultimately redirected to the legitimate website for “Primakov Readings” once the exploit was taken down.
The zero-day vulnerability in Chrome was only part of a chain that included at least two exploits: a still-unobtained remote code execution (RCE) exploit that apparently launched the attack, while the sandbox escape discovered by Kaspersky constituted the second stage. Analysis of the malware’s functionality suggests the operation was designed primarily for espionage. All evidence points to an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group.
“This vulnerability stands out among the dozens of zero-days we’ve discovered over the years,” said Boris Larin, principal security researcher at Kaspersky GReAT. “The exploit bypassed Chrome’s sandbox protection without performing any obviously malicious operations – it’s as if the security boundary simply didn’t exist.
The technical sophistication displayed here indicates development by highly skilled actors with substantial resources. We strongly advise all users to update their Google Chrome and any Chromium-based browser to the latest version to protect against this vulnerability.”
Google has credited Kaspersky for uncovering and reporting the issue, reflecting the company’s ongoing commitment to collaboration with the global cybersecurity community and ensuring user safety.
Kaspersky continues to investigate Operation ForumTroll. Further details, including a technical analysis of the exploits and malicious payload, will be released in a forthcoming report once Google Chrome user security is assured.
Meanwhile, all Kaspersky products detect and protect against this exploit chain and associated malware, ensuring users are shielded from the threat.
This discovery follows Kaspersky GReAT’s previous identification of another Chrome zero-day (CVE-2024-4947), which was exploited last year by the Lazarus APT group in a cryptocurrency theft campaign.
In that case, Kaspersky researchers found a type confusion bug in Google’s V8 JavaScript engine that enabled attackers to bypass security features through a fake cryptogame website.
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