PROJECT BACKGROUND The project concerns ICT - a key issue within the area of EU policies. This is consistent with the recommendations of the Europe 2020 Strategy and HE Modernization Agenda. The project is based on the needs analysis, which has proved the inadequacy of curricula of universities in the field of Business Informatics. It has pointed to the lack of appropriate staff and the increasing demand of skilled professionals from the IT on the world and European labor market. The project involves the modernization of the content of education and improving the quality of teaching and learning processes. The project will provide universities with the teaching tools and solutions. The project will also promote the Open Digital Resources by placing the results in the public resources. The project will add to the existing knowledge, know-how and practices of the organizations and persons involved. HE is expected to be most impacted by the project. The introduction of the elements of mobile technologies (Mobile Business Intelligence) especially within the area of SMEs will constitute the innovative approach in teaching methodologies of BI and DW. THE AIM OF THE PROJECT is to support the development of higher education and the introduction of innovative educational tools at European level. This aim will be achieved by: - providing the attractive new curricula reflecting the individual needs and expectations of the labour market on the basis of selectable subjects such as: Business Intelligence [BI] and Data Warehouse [DW] - the development, testing, implementation and dissemination of innovative practices by creating and promotiing the new teaching methodology in [BI] and [DW] area. - creating and providing innovative education and communication platform based on modern ICT- - developing the interactive textbooks [BI] and [DW]. PARTNERS The project will involve four international partners who have extensive experience in the implementation of EU projects. Three universities and one business partner will be engaged in the research, project management and transfer of innovation. The partnership will be complementary, each partner brings significant added value to the project. -DWSPiT Polkowice, Poland – leader; -University of Economics, Wrocław, Poland; -University of Economics, Varna, Bulgaria; -Paragon Europe, Mosta, Malta. The proposal is innovative and complementary to other initiatives and projects already carried out by the participating organizations. ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY The project will investigate the needs for curricula content and methodologies, as well as develop the new programs and a methodology based on innovative solutions, manuals, tools, and practices. The main activities of the project include: -organizing and running of the project office, -preparing the common curricula and the methodology, -preparing the educational and communication portal -implementation of the curricula at two universities (Wrocław, Varna), -dissemination of intellectual outputs and other project results. Partnership uses innovative working methods (e.g. virtual meetings, ICT methods for quality assurance). The solutions for teaching, developed in the project, will be possible to be tested in an international environment (Intensive Study Programme), which will enable the use of the project results in all EU countries. RESULTS AND IMPACT OF THE PROJECT The result of the project will be the set of tools which will be implemented by institutions of higher education : - Curriculum for Business Intelligence - Curriculum for Data Warehouse - Methodology of teaching Business Intelligence - Methodology of teaching the Data Warehouse - Interactive book for Business Intelligence - Interactive book for Data Warehouse - Educational and communication portal. It should be emphasized that the potential long-term benefits of the project will be noticeable. Dissemination of project results and unrestricted access to resources via education and communication platform will allow universities to implement the tools and contribute to improving the quality of the educational offer in the area of Business Informatics in EU Member States . The advantage of the project is that it will also standardize the education and development of practices in this area at European level. Improving the quality of education in ICT will contribute to the growth of key competences and skills of students and thus to improving the quality of professionals sought-after in the European labor market. The project will promote the mobility of workers in the EU labor market. It also contributes to the promotion of Open Educational Resources.
PROJECT BACKGROUND The project concerned ICT - a key issue for the politics of the EU. This was consistent with the recommendations of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the European Higher Education Modernization Agenda. The project was based on a needs analysis, which proved the inadequacy of university curricula in the field of Business Informatics. It pointed to the lack of appropriate staff, tools and the increasing demand for skilled professionals from IT on the labor markets in Europe and worldwide. The project was based on the modernization of the content of education and improving the quality of teaching and learning processes in the Business Informatics area. The project provide universities with prepared teaching tools and solutions where Open Digital Resources are used by placing the project results on the educational and communication public portal dimbi.eu. THE AIM OF THE PROJECT was to strengthen and improve the quality of higher education in the field of Business Informatics through the modernization of curricula and creation of innovative solutions in Polish and European higher education of Business Informatics. Specific objectives: - providing attractive new curricula reflecting the individual needs and expectations of the labour market on the basis of optional Business Intelligence [BI] and Data Warehouse [DW] subjects - developing, implementing and disseminating innovative practices by creating and promoting new teaching methodology in [BI] and [DW] areas. - creating and providing an innovative education and communication platform based on modern ICT - preparing and facilitating interactive textbooks for teaching and learning [BI] and [DW]. PARTNERS The project involved four partners from different countries who have extensive experience in conducting EU projects - three universities and one business partner who focused on research, project management and transfer of innovation. The partnership was complementary because each partner brought significant added value to the project and provided high level specialists. In the project 28 people took part: 10 from administrative staff, 16 researchers, a proofreader, a reviewer. Two scientific teams were created – one for curricula and one for teaching methodology. The consortium consisted of: - Jan Wyżykowski University, Poland – the leader, - University of Economics, Wrocław, Poland, - University of Economics, Varna, Bulgaria, - Paragon Europe, Mosta, Malta. ACTIVITIES The project investigated the needs for curricula content and methodologies, as well as developing the new programs and a methodology based on innovative solutions, manuals, tools, and practices. The main activities of the project included: -organizing and running the project office, -choosing the project staff members and creating a scientific team, -preparing the curricula, methodology and books, -preparing the educational and communication portal, -implementing two editions of ISP in Wroclaw and Varna, -evaluating the main project products, -disseminating intellectual outputs and other project results. RESULTS AND IMPACT OF THE PROJECT As a result of the project a set of tools was provided available for implementation for free at institutions of higher education in the project partners countries and abroad, i.e.: - Curriculum for Business Intelligence, - Curriculum for Data Warehouse, - Methodology of Teaching Business Intelligence, - Methodology of Teaching Data Warehouse, - Interactive Book for Business Intelligence , - Interactive Book for Data Warehouse - Educational and Communication Portal. The project resulted in improving the quality of higher education quality both in partner universities, as well as in other universities in the country and abroad. Unrestricted access to the created tools and solutions provided a possibility of implementing them at any university in Europe and worldwide. Furthermore, the project contributed to unifying education in the BI and DW fields by the standardization of the teaching methodologies and curricula. All the universities participating in the project implemented the results of the project, thus enriching their educational offer and increasing their competitiveness on the European market. During the Intensive Study Program, 30 students from partner universities increased their knowledge and skills and received ECTS points. Moreover, placing the portal DIMBI on the UJW server created a possibility of the long term use of project results. The portal created has the potential to become the most frequently chosen place of meeting and information exchange concerning BI and DW.