As a part of the round table series on developing futuristic competencies, a confluence of Industry, academicians, and experts in the field of IT and analytics came together to deliberate over the topic at hand on 12th December at the Vivanta by Taj Bangalore. The industry and expert participants ranged from Amazon, Inmobi, BEML, HP, Flipkart, Analytics Quotient, and Volvo among others. The academic representatives were from top business schools like IMT Ghaziabad, IIM Trichy, XIME, Jaipuria institute of management, ISBR Bangalore, IILM Noida, RV institute of Management, Welingkar School of business among others.
The event was conducted in three stages.
In stage 1 the academicians were divided into three groups and they brainstormed and deliberated over 12 competencies to be identified in the field of IT and Analytics education. It was suggested by the moderator to cover three broad areas – knowledge, skills, and attitude needed in the field of IT and Analytics. The academicians were given one hour to identify the 12 competencies.
In stage two at each table, the academicians were joined by three representatives from the industry. The competencies identified by the academicians were reviewed by the industry practitioners. At this phase, the competencies were consolidated into 6 points which both the academicians and the practitioners agreed upon to be relevant to IT and Analytics.
In the third and final stage, the results of the discussion at each table were presented to the industry experts by each team. The experts gave their valuable suggestions and comments on the competencies identified. Most teams were suggested to focus on the broad areas of competencies rather than on the specific deliverables.
The focal areas where the practitioner, academicians, and experts agreed upon as competencies needed in IT and analytics were
- For business schools
- Industry mentoring of students undergoing courses at b school
- Case study based approach in B schools to enable exposure for students to industry
- For students
- Strong conceptual understanding
- Inculcating Leadership qualities
- Developing of a problem-solving and analytical mindset
- Increase in focus on specific tools like R, Python, SPSS, SAS, Tableau
- Understanding of emerging concepts of Artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and cloud-based platforms
- Developing adaptability to changing business requirements
The discussion concluded with the moderator emphasizing the skill-building and competency-building part from the academicians. It was suggested to the industry that the data sharing with the business schools can be enhanced to build an employable workforce in the area of IT and Analytics. This discussion was identified to be a much-needed dialogue and integration from industry and academia by the participants.
Organized by CINQUE, Vivanta by Taj, Bangalore on Dec 12th, 2018
Report by Prof Roshny Unnikrishnan
About ISBR:
Business School, Bangalore based, Top Class B School for PGDM or MBA, Consistently ranked as best B School in India, AICTE-CII Platinum Catagory, with multiple specializations.
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