Hello, everyone. This lesson consists of several readings that illustrate the importance of data analytics in modern accountancy and business in general. Some topics you should consider while you are reading these articles include the following: First, why are analytic skills so important to firms? Part of the drive for courses, such as this one, is that the firms that are hiring students are demanding that students acquire skills that haven't been taught in the past. Even more important than that, the accreditation standards boards are now requiring that a curriculum have to include these analytic skills. So, these readings should hopefully demonstrate why this is so important that firms now can expect students come out with certain analytic skills. And you should, of course, be looking at these readings and the rest of this course with what are the types of analytic skills that are important and why, and perhaps even more important, how can I stay current as I grow in my career. You will take this course, you will learn to apply these skills in other courses, but you are going to graduate and enter the workforce. And as you do so, you will need to stay abreast of current developments. The field of machine learning is rapidly changing, and the areas in which it is applied and how those applications will influence, how your field and career grow are hard, if not impossible, to predict. Thus, you need to stay current and continue to read and stay abreast of the latest developments. This lesson consists of two different readings. The first is eight short case studies on accounting professionals employing data analytics in different areas. And then there's a second article that talks about the ethics and how to keep abreast of those and consider those in a machine-run world. So, let me just quickly demonstrate the first reading, which is business analytics case studies. There are different ones listed here. They're all pretty short. You can see, there are only a few paragraphs each, but they all demonstrate different ways that data analytics is important in different fields. So, I think you'll probably find these interesting, and these should give you a good feel for the breadth of application for data analytics. The second reading is actually off of a blog. And this is a great way to stay abreast. And one of the reasons I wanted you to see this is not just this particular article, but the fact that firms and individuals across the internet have blogs. They have podcasts. They have articles that are written and posted that demonstrate new techniques and applications of existing and new techniques in ways that might be novel. So, this one particularly looks at who determines ethics in a machine-run world. And if you think about it, more and more machines are taking over tasks that humans have typically done, and new jobs will emerge. Some jobs will likely transform or go away. And it's important to stay abreast of how these changes are happening and how machines are impacting daily life. So, this article steps into this, and it should get you thinking about this. And one of the things I would encourage you to do is to talk in the forum, share with other students and the instructional staff in the forums thoughts you might have about any of these articles. Having that sort of conversation is important. It helps reinforce important topics and important points that should make it clear that, you know, we're all in this together. If you have any questions, let us know. Good luck.
