The future of the data engineer — Part I
Introduction In this post we explore the shifting focus of Data Engineering from Data Infrastructure and Data Integration to Accessible Analytics , in Meta and the industry at large. However the tools that we use are largely focused on the former two which presents a major challenge for the function. We will showcase challenges this mismatch created during the evolution of Data Engineering at Meta and will formulate the properties of a next-generation data platform. In subsequent posts we will review how Data Engineering at Meta is evolving to address these challenges. But first let’s define what we mean by Accessible Analytics. We are not using the term Accessible Analytics as it is commonly understood, i.e., the act of making data accessible for extracting insights through tools. Instead, we are also drawing attention to the fact that for data to truly be deemed accessible it will have to be self-describing to an extent that it do...