New master degree program Data Science & Intelligent Analytics starts in September 2018
Data has become a matter of course in people’s private and professional lives. Time and again, data is compared to gold or oil – signifying its economic importance. However, companies often do not fully utilize the inherent potential of data. Analyses of sales figures and buyer structures can, for example, predict which customers will buy a car tomorrow. Information from vibration sensors can provide advance warnings before a production system breaks down due to damage. Companies require well-trained expert personnel, so-called data scientists in order to detect these correlations, which are often not apparent at first sight.
Linking technology, business and management
As of September 2018, FH Kufstein Tirol trains these still rare specialists in a new master degree program so that especially small and medium-sized enterprises can keep pace with the competition. Data Science & Intelligent Analytics conveys both technical as well as economic specialist knowledge in an extra-occupational form. Students learn about the processing and application of large databases and how to recognize and develop new business models. “Our new interdisciplinary Master of Science program trains students in a very practical manner. Partner companies provide real data and also benefit themselves,” said Director of Studies Prof. (FH) Dipl.-Informatiker Karsten Böhm.
Study verifies the significance of data analysis and new business models
The new degree program at FH Kufstein Tirol trains precisely these experts who are urgently needed in business and industry. This is also confirmed by the study “Digital Agenda 2020” for which the IT service provider DXC Technology interviewed 500 company representatives in the DACH region in the past year on digitization strategies. The most important agenda topics include digital security, collection and assessment of data, new business models as well as the structure of new digital platforms. These are precisely the contents of the curriculum of our new degree program.
Digital Minister Schramböck: “FH Kufstein Tirol provides an essential contribution.”
“Digitization concerns all our spheres of life and changes how we work and live. It is one of the most important developments for society, industry and management. The digitization offensive creates the necessary infrastructure for the province of Tirol. The University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol provides an essential contribution with the training of specialist and executives who are urgently needed at the moment,” explained Federal Minister for Digitization and Economic Affairs Margarete Schramböck.
Occupation-friendly studies in online courses and data science laboratories
The polytechnic has invested in data science labs as well as in hardware and software in order to provide an optimal infrastructure for students. Students also gain valuable foreign experience in a supervised study trip. Data Science & Intelligent Analytics has a share of up to 30 percent of blended learning in order to ensure an even easier transition between working and studying and is thereby extremely occupation-friendly.
Training gaps and stumbling blocks for companies
The importance of expanding skills and having a consistently current knowledge base can be seen in other results of the study “Digital Agenda 2020”. Surveyed companies regard technical training and further training gaps of employees as an enormous stumbling block for the implementation of digital projects, both for the industry and for commerce.
The development of this degree program has been made possible by the regional management KUUSK with a promotion by the Leader Program.