The project Data Science Pathways to Re-Imagine Education (DA.RE.) will create an innovative training path in the field of Big Data Analytics.DA.RE. Consortium gather 11 partners from 5 EU Countries (Italy, Serbia, UK, Portugal, Slovenia). The partners have been chosen from the most innovative European organizations committed to Big Data and industrial processes innovation. The project, that will last 36 months, will create a model of training curriculum and a Data Scientist profile on (at least) 5 key topics affected by Big Data. The macro-areas that have already been identified are: - Machine learning, statistical modelling, predictive analytics and data management; - Big Data needs, labour market analysis and value chain development, alongside a proper inclusion of industry requirements;- The organisational culture.These macro areas have been identified during the proposal preparatory phase and will be re-designed according to the results of the initial project phase (leading to the development of O1- New Big Data Initiatives - Towards a Data-driven Mind-Set). Within this phase, partners will undertake a survey aimed at identifying new Big Data Analytics models, training opportunities and needs, as to update the state of art of Big Data Analytics, also carrying out a comparative analysis of the results as to have a picture of what is going on in Europe on Big Data. An inventory will be created and made available on line, respectively of initiatives and training opportunities in Big Data Analytics, with a focus on identifying existing modules and resources to be further adapted and developed to respond to the target groups needs, and those missing to be developed ex novo. The training path (O2 - Data Science Modules and Open Educational Resources) will be composed by a set of 5 modules, each composed by 30 h structured at distance courses and in presence. This will result in a training offer of 150 h (70 h as e-learning, 80 h as two-week intensive course). The set of modules, MOOCs, methodologies will be tested in a joint demonstrative blended course, that will involve 450 participants from 5 partner countries representing Large Companies, SMEs, HEIs, Research Institutes, Foundations and 75 selected beneficiaries (10 funded by EU contribution and 65 participating at their own expenses), in a blended mobility in Ancona (Italy). After testing the course, the curriculum will be improved and standardised according to partner HEI’s ECTS system and rules and included in already existing course and MSc degree courses (O3 - Model and Recommendations for a Data Science Curriculum). The model of curriculum will be accompanied by a set of policy recommendations for the validation and recognition of 21 ECTS with reference to the EQF Level 7 and 8 and of the new profile (Data Scientist), ensuring long term project sustainability. The proposal aims at making lifelong learning and mobility a reality, by creating flexible learning pathways and addressing a higher number of learners. The proposal will thus pave the way to the EU2020 target of raising HEI education attainment, by making it more attractive with new Business and HEI cooperation, innovative cross-sectoral topics of current international relevance and by encouraging employability. The project will adopt a participatory approach with active involvement of stakeholders in the different project phases. Creating and validating in the test blended course a set of collaborative modules, Big Data Analytics modules and OERs will serve as an example of transnational Business-University-Society cooperation that may be adapted to any other course subject, providing long-term sustainability of the project deliverables. DA.RE. dissemination will raise awareness on Big Data Analytics across Europe, opening the path for Data Science initiatives in reaching different pedagogical goals and facing global challenges (data wrangling, cleaning, and sampling, for a quick and reliable access to data; exploratory data analysis to generate intuition; prediction based on statistical methods). Dissemination will be ensured by a dedicated website and use of social media, press conferences, events, a promotional video, and a e-newsletter to be distributed in partner countries and over Europe. A strong link with Networks of Excellence, members of the International Data Science Committee will enable long-term sustainability and accessibility of DA.RE. deliverables. Within the DA.RE. project, 3 national events will be realised in IT, SI and PT. DA.RE. will thus pave the way to the Erasmus+ and European Growth targets of raising higher education attainment, in supporting the implementation of the 2013 Communication on Opening Up Education and Making the knowledge triangle.
The Da.Re. project (Da.Re. stands for “Data science pathways to Re-imagine education”) is an initiative proposed and managed by 11 different partners (Loccioni AEA s.r.l., Università degli Studi di Camerino, Nissatec, Maisis - Information Systems Lda., The Open University, Abelium d.o.o., raziskave in razvoj, Univerza na Primorskem Università del Litorale, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Vision Scientific Ltd., e-consulenza, Associazione degli Industriali) based in 5 European countries (Italy, Slovenia, Portugal, Serbia and the UK). The project was created for responding to a very important issue raised by different kind of organizations in the world: data scientist will represent one of the most required professional figures in the next years, while the shortage of this kind of professionals is already an issue quantified in hundreds of thousands of uncovered job positions. More, the distance between Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and the business sector is still very big and the so called “knowledge triangle” should be helped in its crucial connective function. It is also well known in Europe that data increasingly drives all social and economic activity and innovation, and that strength in data science is fundamental to economic success and social wellbeing. Over the last decade it has become clear that data has huge latent value with companies such as Facebook, Amazon, and Google finding ways to monetize that latency to gain spectacular revenues. This has been highly disruptive to societies worldwide creating new kinds of social and economic interactions with both positive and negative effects. Through initiatives such as the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) Europe is a world leader in mitigating the negative effects of the big data revolution and establishing ethical principles for the use of personal information. However, Europe lags behind the USA in the emergence of companies and organisations able to manage big data and extract value from it. In this framework the Da.Re. project was intended to obtain a fundamental target, the creation of a full training curriculum of European Qualifications Framework (EQF) level 7 organized to be: - Cross sectoral - International - Multi-targeted - Accessible In order to do so, the Consortium created 3 different phases intended to 1. analyse the EU State of the Art in the field of Data Science, comparing the training offer with the demand of the European organizations for such a kind of professional, in order to find gaps among these 2 elements (Intellectual Output 1); 2. work creating modules to be experimented on real case studies for training a new generation of Data Scientists (Intellectual Output 2); 3. apply the knowledge and experience gained during the 2 previous phases to better shape the final curriculum and make propositions to HEIs and Ministries of Education in EU (Intellectual Output 3). Thanks to the effort put on this action by the different partners, Da.Re. raised an international interest that went even beyond the European borders, reaching more than 120 countries. The initiative collected the direct interest of stakeholders in different ways, leveraging on social networks, the project website, newsletters, participatory and multiplier events, conferences and seminars. In total, the project directly involved more than 1.000 stakeholders thanks to these different initiatives. The pilot course created with the project obtained more than 200 applications (while the available material online already reached more than 600 downloads), and the modules created, together with the final curriculum produced will constitute a heritage for the future work to be made in this crucial and horizontal sector represented by Data Science.