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76
Higher Education and Emerging Technologies / WHAT IS UNIVERSITY 20.35
« on: October 17, 2019, 01:08:37 PM »
WHAT IS UNIVERSITY 20.35

University 20.35 is the first university in Russia providing opportunities for professional development by creating individual educational trajectories and tracking digital skill profiles.
It is aimed at training business leaders, participants of the National Technology Initiative and professionals entering new global markets.University 20.35 pioneers a new network-based learning principle, where educational trajectories for each  student are selected in a personalized manner. Different universities, online education platforms and other organizations are providing this customized content. Students are trained both offline and online through the digital platform of the University.
University 20.35 was established by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) to promote new projects. Partners: Skoltech, Innopolis, ITMO, SPbPU, MIPT, Novosibirsk State University, Tomsk State University, Far Eastern Federal University.

UNIQUE FEATURES OF UNIVERSITY 20.35

01 Recommendations for personal education trajectories based on the results of the students’ current skill diagnostics, educational background and individual needs.
02 Combination of online and offline learning from world-class teachers with top level skills.
03 Community of the National Technology Initiative leaders and the possibility to study together.
04 Digital skills profile.
05 Recommendations on team development (considering each participant’s profile) for technological projects.

RESEARCH
University 20.35 pioneers a new university model, where each student at any given moment makes a decision on his/her further educational steps based on recommendations that take into account the student's digital footprint, digital footprints of other students, and the educational content and activities available.

The recommendations include:
the choice of professional activity;
a list of the skills and knowledge that are necessary for this professional activity;
a selection of events, courses, educational methods, scholarly endeavors and professional activities that will ensure the student's development.

University 20.35 joins efforts with leading academia institutions to facilitate transition towards network-based education.

University holds pilot programs at selected Russian universities offering students an opportunity to develop a set of competencies required for digital economy via personalized blended learning curves. Educational content providers, proffering unique learning experiences related to digital economy are encouraged to share their content at University 20.35's platform.

Therefore, new students get a unique opportunity to build personal educational paths from the variety of available modules.


Source: https://2035.university/en/

77
Is Artificial Intelligence the Ultimate University Stimulus?

What does it take to make the university the best learning experience in the lifecycle of one’s education? Higher education is all about developing skills, exploring new theories, and applying them to the actualities of real life. Throughout this journey, students are encouraged to stay on top of their workload, study, and complete assessments all while simultaneously leading a healthy, active, and balanced social life.

Existing Fractures in the University Structure

The essential materials relied on at university include books, books, and more books. As we move into an age of digitalization of practically everything, there is a reason to believe that the existing higher education model should too be digitalized to allow for an enhanced university experience.

The existing model of higher education looks something along the following lines.
Based on a one-module-fits-all curriculum, where students are all expected to learn the same thing in the confines of a classroom, they will then be assessed by examinations based on rigid criteria to determine a pass or fail. These intrinsic features of the education system do little to contribute to an enhanced learning experience. Instead, prospects for development under the current model seems to have come to a halt.

The world around us moves closer to an entirely digitalized world.

Having the entire world become digitalized is essential as little else could be more detrimental to the future than our young minds being taught in obsolete ways. Artificial intelligence has disrupted almost every industry. The AI market is expected to generate $3 trillion in revenue by 2024.



Based on a 2018 report assessing the expected impact of AI and machine learning on a selection of domains worldwide, only 3% of respondents believed that AI would not affect society in general within two years (Statista).

The ability of intelligent machines to perform highly sophisticated and specific tasks without explicit human input should not be overlooked in the higher education sector.

Artificial Intelligence Technological Solutions

AI’s ability to make recommendations and produce answers based on patterns and inferences is precisely what humans cannot do on a mass scale – and precisely what our existing university structure demands.

University 20.35, (https://2035.university/en/), introduces the first university model that provides opportunities for professional development by creating individual educational trajectories and tracking digital skill profiles using artificial intelligence.

The use of digital footprints, which the platform collects during educational processes measures and analyses the students’ skills. Then, it confirms or refutes whether a trajectory module teacher can efficiently transfer skills to the students.

University Model

The network of organizations and digital platforms.
The use of AI here is of great revelation. It’s currently being implemented in personal educational trajectories development. In other words, the collection of Big Data on a student’s educational and professional background, combined with his/her digital footprint allows the intelligent machine to suggest the best development path.

A large part of university learning takes place within labs and lecture theatres.
If there’s one thing that makes studying at university better, it has everything you need to learn, study, and research wherever the student may be. Whether studying, learning or research takes place on the go or from home can be the students’ choice.  Through a combination of online and offline education, artificial intelligence allows students to study where and when they want.

Using whichever platform they prefer or need, makes learning more accessible to everyone. The learning, in turn, lends to the prospects of AI for future students. It may mean that the use of mobile devices and online data collection increases.

This shift way from popular book learning towards smart devices contributes to the mass data we collect as a population. More data essentially means more information and better AI developed models.

We think of the most enhanced environments for learning.
We might conjure up images in our heads of groups of students studying together, in an attempt to improve their existing skills and fill in the gaps in their knowledge. Before the introduction of AI, this image of students was the only one conceivable, but it’s not the most effective.

AI, through the collection and analysis of digital footprints, allows for the creation of each students’ digital twin. Digital twins are essentially the digital replica of physical assets, i.e., the physical twin or the replica is of the student.

This accurate and near to real-time data based on digital footprint as well as some biological data can help to establish better solutions for students. This includes the biological of the surroundings as well as personal biolgical data. The application of the digital twin in higher education has the potential to shed light on gaps in the student’s knowledge, their forgetfulness, and hone in on their strengths.

Through AI, digital twins can materialize into a functional and personal study buddy.
Twinning is effectively a solid starting point for the development of a proactive educational study plan. From here, as the data reflects the student’s actual profile, the near to real-time data of the students’ progress will represent the students’ knowledge and skills.

Twinning can also be modeled to take into account what the student forgets and the skills they are practicing. The digital economy awaits, and as things stand, the next generation of our workforce have been and continue to be, educated and trained in an educational model that is incompatible with the digital future.

The university project, Island 10-22, is an incentive for education leaders aimed at intensive skills development specifically for the digital economy.
Participants of this project receive skills development in the field of digital and cross-cutting technologies. They are therefore anticipated to be the most sought after members of the labor market and will lead in the transition into a digital global economy.

“We aim to create a flexible digital education system, not even of tomorrow, but for the day after, based on the unique Russian educational AI.”The Russian education AI will enable quick training of these specialists and teams to solve complex problems,” said Dmitry Peskov, head of University 20.35.

On many occasions, students at university will be expected to work in groups on team projects.
Artificial intelligence technologies can make intelligent recommendations on team development for technical projects. And nothing enhances learning quite like team development. Collaboration drives innovation. Artificial intelligence, by considering each participant’s profile, we can assemble the most efficient teams and distribute work according to skill and proficiency.

AI poses some strategic and educational revolutionary technical solutions.
Each of these can help the current educational model reach the next milestone in maximizing both its standards and the level of expertise in students it produces. Total digital footprint recording allows AI to analyze the interaction of the participants in social networks.

The results of completed tasks, geolocation, as well as uploads of videos and photos, make possible a personalized program based on the needs of the student. Subsequently, individual development pathways with AI assistants can be created for each student.

When looking ahead at development records and tracing the students’ progress, AI, through semantic speech analysis allows the tracking of changes in the participants’ mindsets. Biometric data gathering can identify stress and fatigue levels to analyze different stages of the program. This data can then be used to modify the program accordingly.

AI puts students on a personal development pathway based on their digital footprints.
AI can do much more than condense a lecture into flashcards and smart online study guides. It has thus far, automated administrative tasks, introduced personalized learning to the extraordinarily generic syllabus that exists today.

AI’s application is still in its early stages; its continued development will soon see it working as a full-fledged AI-based university model. The model will be immersed entirely on the premise of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Simultaneously, its development will generate a higher caliber of students.

Source: https://readwrite.com/2019/10/10/is-artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-university-stimulus/

78
Emerging Technologies / Web link of IFZ-FinTech study 2019
« on: October 16, 2019, 02:26:31 PM »
Web link of IFZ-FinTech study 2019

IFZ FinTech Study 2019 analyses both global FinTech companies and the Swiss FinTech sector. The fourth edition of the IFZ-FinTech study aims to show the developments in the FinTech in 2018 and to re-evaluate the trends observed in previous studies. FinTech companies are increasingly becoming an integral part of the financial services industry. By the end of 2018, there were 356 Swiss FinTech companies, representing an increase of 62% from 220 companies one year earlier. The study shows that 122 companies are active in the field of Distributed Ledger Technology, 66 – in Investment Management, 56 – in Banking Infrastructure, 42 – in Deposit & Lending, 36 – in Payment, and 34 – in Analytics.



To study more on the report (IFZ-FinTech study 2019), you may kindly download from the below web link:

https://blog.hslu.ch/retailbanking/files/2019/03/IFZ-FinTech-Study-2019_Switzerland.pdf

79
Economics and Business Studies / Web link of IFZ-FinTech study 2019
« on: October 16, 2019, 02:20:47 PM »
Web link of IFZ-FinTech study 2019

IFZ FinTech Study 2019 analyses both global FinTech companies and the Swiss FinTech sector. The fourth edition of the IFZ-FinTech study aims to show the developments in the FinTech in 2018 and to re-evaluate the trends observed in previous studies. FinTech companies are increasingly becoming an integral part of the financial services industry. By the end of 2018, there were 356 Swiss FinTech companies, representing an increase of 62% from 220 companies one year earlier. The study shows that 122 companies are active in the field of Distributed Ledger Technology, 66 – in Investment Management, 56 – in Banking Infrastructure, 42 – in Deposit & Lending, 36 – in Payment, and 34 – in Analytics.



To study more on the report (IFZ-FinTech study 2019), you may kindly download from the below web link:

https://blog.hslu.ch/retailbanking/files/2019/03/IFZ-FinTech-Study-2019_Switzerland.pdf


80
Workshop on 'Class Monitoring Mechanism', organized by IQAC, DIU

To discuss the details of ToR of Classroom Monitoring Mechanism, IQAC, DIU is going to arrange a workshop (on 14 October, 2019) where Director, IQAC, DIU will brief you on how to use the ToR for monitoring classroom. Honorable Vice Chancellor, DIU will grace the occasion as Chief Guest' and he will give you proper directions on this issue.

The programme matrix is as follows:

Date: 14 October, 2019
Day: Monday
Time: 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Room 308, Main Campus of DIU, 102, Shukrabad, Dhanmondi, Mirpur Road, Dhaka

81
Workshop on 'Class Monitoring Mechanism', organized by IQAC, DIU

To discuss the details of ToR of Classroom Monitoring Mechanism, IQAC, DIU is going to arrange a workshop (on 14 October, 2019) where Director, IQAC, DIU will brief you on how to use the ToR for monitoring classroom. Honorable Vice Chancellor, DIU will grace the occasion as Chief Guest' and he will give you proper directions on this issue.

The programme matrix is as follows:

Date: 14 October, 2019
Day: Monday
Time: 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Room 308, Main Campus of DIU, 102, Shukrabad, Dhanmondi, Mirpur Road, Dhaka

82
Employability / How will the future employee looks?
« on: October 14, 2019, 12:24:29 PM »
How will the future employee looks?

Professor Ujjwal K Chowdhury

The past employees worked 9 to 5 in a corporate office, using company equipment, remaining focused on inputs with a pre-defined work and wanting to climb the corporate ladder

Jacob Morgan categorically defines the principles and characteristics of the future employee, future manager and future organizations, which are relevant for India too.
The seven principles of the future employee include: has a flexible work environment, can customize own work, shares information, uses new ways to communicate and collaborate, can become a leader, shifts from knowledge worker to a learning worker, and learns and teaches/mentors at will. Future workers can and shall work from co-working spaces, and can be a part of a gig economy where s/he contributes to multiple organizations at the same time being paid by all, or focuses on one for a project and then on finishing it, focuses on another organization and project, without technically being employed permanently by anyone.
Such a work force will decreasingly depend on universities and long-drawn degree education. Already, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google have announced that they will hire from 2020 by skills and not degrees. The degree-centricity of traditional university system will lose its value. Education is becoming modular where students are taking courses they like instead of committing themselves to entire majors with a linear long drawn progression. Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC), courses of Udemy or Coursera, Udacity or Khan University are examples where learners can learn at low or no costs, and the order of tomorrow is micro certification of focused courses.

The past employees worked 9 to 5 in a corporate office, using company equipment, focused on inputs with a pre-defined work, and wanting to climb the corporate ladder. S/he hoarded information, had no voice, relied on emails, was focused on knowledge through corporate learning and teaching. But the employee of tomorrow shall work anytime, anywhere, use any device, will be focused on outputs, and create his/her own ladder. S/he will take up customized work, will share information, can become a leader, will rely on collaborative technologies, and will focused on adaptive and democratized learning.

The concept of gig or freelancer economy will also gain ground ahead. The freelancer economy is about people being able to leverage their skills and expertise to find work without having to seek full-time employment in a single company. Most of their projects are done in a virtual environment and include services like SEO, marketing and PR, content creation, web development, virtual assistants, designing, etc.

Future managers at workplaces

The ten principles of future manager according to Jacob Morgan include leadership, following from the front, understanding technology, leading by example, embracing vulnerability, believing in sharing and collective intelligence, is a fire-starter, giving real-time recognition and feedback, is conscious of personal boundaries and limitations, and adapts to the future employee.  Following from the front means that when it comes to the future of work, the goal of the managers is to remove roadblocks from the paths of employees in order to help them succeed while empowering them to work in a way that makes them engaged and effective. To be a fire-starter, managers of the future must challenge conventional ideas about management and work and not just take things in the face value, and can ditch the existing template to create a new one. 

The past manager commanded leadership, was supported by employees, relied on IT for technology, is unemotional, with a nature to control information, conforming to conventions, believing in annual reviews, and limiting himself to implicit boundaries.
The future manager earns leadership, supports the employees, understands technology, leads by example, embraces vulnerability, reaps collective intelligence, challenges convention, gives real-time feedback and recognition, and has dynamic evolving boundaries.

Future organizations to work for

On similar lines, the future organizations will also evolve or perish. Future organizations will be nationally/globally distributed with smaller teams, will have a connected work-force, will be entrepreneurial encouraging entrepreneurship skills at managerial level, will be big but operating like a small company, and will focus on want instead of need. Such a company will adapt to changes faster, will bring in innovation anywhere, will run in the cloud, will seek better gender balance in senior management, and will have a flatter structure (less hierarchy). Such companies will have stories to share, will democratize learning, shift from profit to prosperity (more holistic), and will adapt to the future employee and manager.

The Ringelmann Effect is a fascinating tendency for individual members to become less productive as the size of the group increases. Hence small units, small company approach, lean organization and entrepreneurial skills of managers will make future companies do well. Such managers will focus on what the company needs to survive and grow, and not on wants which often are wishes and embellishments.

Universities of tomorrow

Hence, going beyond degree-centricity, universities of tomorrow should consider degrees as an outcome by the way, and focus on real-life skills and literacies outlined above. It must collaborate with a myriad of learning systems, adapt to experiential brick and portal learning, focus on mentoring rather than teaching, and make education choice-based and learner centric. It must integrate formal with self-learning modules and skills. It should be focused on today and tomorrow more than yesterday, and on application of knowledge more than knowledge per se. It should create the human resources of tomorrow for economy yet not seen, rather than labour force for the economy of yesterday.

The universities of tomorrow hence prepare talent for Digital Marketers, Animators-Designers, Artificial Intelligence Engineers, Strategists, Market Researchers, Content Developers, Law Experts, Finance Experts, Multi-linguists, Behavioural Scientists, Entrepreneurs, Robotics Engineers, Communicators, Applied Scientists, Pharmacists, Design Thinkers & Designers, Big Data Analysts & Data Managers, Campaign Managers, et al. 

The approach of mentoring-learning in universities of tomorrow hence will include a blend of classroom learning (Formal), Workshop based learning (Hands-on), Peer Learning, Experiential Learning (Projects), Real Life Experiences (Internship), Case-study based Learning, Internet based Learning, Video-conferencing, International Learning (global exposure), Research based Learning, Degree & Beyond, Skill & Portfolio focus, Team-work, Problem Solving Learning.

The author is Pro Vice Chancellor of Kolkata based
Adamas University, and former Dean of Symbiosis and Amity Universities,
Pearl Academy & Whistling Woods International

Source: http://www.eindependentbd.com/home/page/2019-10-10/7

83
Research Publications / GCC Wealth Insight Report
« on: October 05, 2019, 05:42:36 PM »
Please find herewith the downloadable link of GCC Wealth Insight Report 2019

The web link: https://www.eibank.com/insight-report-2019

84
The State of Digital Investments in MENA 2013-2018 Report
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Synopsis: This research report investigates the technology investment landscape in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by analyzing investments made by MENA-based investors into MENA-based startups. The analysis is based on data collected directly from 59 investors and accelerators across the MENA region, specifically in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, and Yemen. The report analyzes 1,423 regional investments.

Please go to the below mentioned web link for downloading the full report:

Link: https://www.arabnet.me/english/business-intelligence/digital-investment-2019

85
Finance – Fund Management / Fintech Trends To Watch In 2019
« on: October 05, 2019, 05:36:11 PM »
Web link of Fintech Trends To Watch In 2019:

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/fintech-trends-2019/

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI), MACHINE LEARNING (ML), RESPONSIBLE FINANCE (RF) – AND US, HUMANS

Research shows that human beings have the talent to deceive one another and be dishonest; a talent that they often use. This is mainly since it allows humans to manipulate others without using physical force. Harvard University’s Sissela Bok says that “It’s much easier to lie in order to get somebody’s money or wealth than to hit them over the head or rob a bank.”

It is thus not surprising that despite the corporate governance lapses of the early 2000s and the measures taken thereafter (Sarbanes Oxley, various codes of corporate governance, numerous board directors’ training programs, etc.) we are still witness (in 2019) to a great many governance failures on a daily-basis. This only goes to show that unless these ethical and governance standards are embraced by individuals and companies in spirit and not just in letter, not much will change in the way we govern our businesses – or in the way we use available tools, including technology, to maximize profits. Apparently, us humans still require being told what the ethical boundaries are, and we still need to be supervised to ensure that we do not fall out of step. This is where regulations and regulatory oversight come into play.

In today’s technology-driven world with “innovation” happening all around us, we can often see that regulations are always trying to catch up with the new business models. Such new ideas and business models are being introduced at a very high frequency, and most of the time the regulatory support required to protect systemic failures is not there. However, many of these new business models are addressing a need and demand in the market and thus relevant in terms of their use case. As such, we see regulators struggling to keep pace with the innovations keeping in view their role as protectors of both the system and the consumers of products and services.

One of the early adopters of technology has been the finance and banking sector. We know that the major advantage of technology is its ability to process information at very high speeds enabling quicker and better business decision making. Within the banking sector ML and AI (Artificial – or more aptly Augmented Intelligence) are being used for this purpose, mainly in the areas of Risk Management, Compliance, Credit, KYC and Cyber Security. To do this, technology needs to collect and process huge amounts of data, most of which is generated by the actions of human beings through digitalized processes. This enables designing algorithms to generate valuable insights from the collected data. It is data (both quality and quantity) that fuels the ability of ML/AI to derive insights for improved and swifter decisioning.  The manner, in which AI is now deployed has undergone a lot of changes over the years. Today, it is applied and used in anything from chat-bots, robots and autonomous cars. Thus, the quest for more and more data, and seeking more and more business opportunities for using and monetizing that data, has become a primary objective of most institutions. Herein, lies the problem.

Research also shows that creative people are more likely to exhibit unethical behavior when faced with ethical dilemmas. Thus, while innovation continues to take place in the absence of adequate regulatory frameworks, we see two things happening – either the pace of innovation is slowed or even stopped; or innovation continues in parallel with the designing of regulatory regimes. It is here, and during this lag period, that dishonesty and unethical practices can and do take place. This then begs the question whether innovation should wait till the regulatory regime is perfected – or should the innovators cooperate and work with the regulators and help them design an “innovation-friendly” regulatory framework. Given market dynamics, I would vote for the latter. However, this can only happen if during the period when the regulatory framework is weak and evolving, the innovators (and users of innovative technologies) are acting responsibly and ensuring that technology is not being misused. Unfortunately, thus far we have seen that technology has been misused on several occasions (I am sure I do not need to delve into Cambridge Analytics, Facebook, Google, and the several incidents involving banks, credit bureaus and others over the past many years; I have also written about these in other publications). Unfortunately, what such irresponsible behavior could lead to – and it seems is already leading to - is “over-regulation”, which in turn would stifle innovation, and hence the ability of both the innovators and its users to scale by leveraging technology. Already, we are seeing regulators bringing in the innovators for hours of questioning to try and understand why (and how) they did what they did in terms of data misuse, invasion of privacy, developing biased algorithms resulting in biased decisions, lax oversight and understanding of cyber security issues, (it’s a long list), etc. By such questioning the regulators are trying to determine what type of regulatory frameworks and oversight need to be developed because of irresponsible behavior.

In today’s world of digital technology, while there is ample opportunity to improve the way products and services are delivered and make processes more efficient, there is also certainly a lot of room for dishonest practices, using the same technology. For this reason, the onus is on all stakeholders - the innovators, the users of innovations, the consumers and the regulators - to ensure that technology can be leveraged strategically and sustainably. This can only happen if we realize that with the great power that technology gives to all of us, the burden of responsible behavior is even greater and heavier. And unless we live up to the responsibilities that we need to display, the use of technology might not be sustainable.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/artifical-intelligence-ai-machine-learning-ml-finance-kaiser-naseem/

87
TEACHERS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE (an article published in The Daily Star)

For the purposes of this article, we conducted a survey and got responses from 195 students from public and private universities (57 percent and 43 percent respectively) in different semesters (39.2 percent: 1st to 4th semesters; 44.4 percent: 4th to 8th semesters; 5.8 percent: 9th to 12th semesters; 4.8 percent: over 12 semesters) with 47 percent having a CGPA above 3.5 and 53 percent having a CGPA below 3.5.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT TEACHERS

When semesters are about to end, students in many universities are asked to complete faculty evaluations. In some universities, these are mandatory. In others, they are non-existent. Regardless, many students go to social media to vent about their professors and lecturers. Their complaints are many, and such posts often have numerous people sharing their own stories about faculties who in their words are “unfair”, “biased” or “unfriendly”.

In our survey, when asked whether students believed that working hard would always get them an A, 114 of the 193 who answered chose “No, the teacher can sometimes be biased or unfair” with 78 choosing “Yes” and 56 choosing “No, not everyone is capable”. Again in another question, 45.8 percent (88 out of 192 students) said they got bad grades because “The teacher can sometimes be biased or unfair”.

It is common to see students getting upset over the grades they get. Many seem to believe that if you work hard, it should automatically translate to a good grade. However, students often completely miss the point of assignments or provide irrelevant answers to questions, even on tests that they studied well for. Rote memorisation doesn’t always pay off, and there are test-taking skills one must master if one expects to do well. Students don’t always know what a teacher expects from them, and this sometimes creates confusion and anger as some feel that they deserve better grades.

Do students themselves consider the complaints of other students regarding the validity of the marks they get from their teachers? Our results were inconclusive with half saying “yes” and half saying “no”.



When asked what a good teacher is to them, a majority of the 193 students (167 or 86.5 percent) chose “Creates a positive learning experience”, but 32.6 percent (or 63 students) chose “Is easy-going and not strict when grading”; a small 11.9 percent chose “Doesn’t expect too much from students” and very few chose “Gave you good grades” and “Curves/inflates grades”.

Another one of the expectations that students seem to have is that teachers will inflate grades. In our survey, 47.6 percent of the students responded that they believe all teachers should inflate grades. Whether these expectations are justified is a matter of debate, but what is clear is that students are often seen in a negative light.

 A PORTRAIT OF THE STUDENT AS LAZY, CHILDISH AND UNPRINCIPLED

Ask anyone who has been in a group project, and you’ll see that university students themselves don’t have the best reputation even amongst themselves.

A 2018 article on Star Weekend discusses how Nilkhet’s flourishing business shows just how many students look for readymade academic papers. It becomes hard to root for students when one sees the extent of academic dishonesty. Professors become massively frustrated, and negative formal evaluations and comments can demoralise them, even if it doesn’t directly affect their situation at work.

THE UNSAVOURY ASPECTS OF THE LIVES OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN DHAKA

Current university students are products of an education system that is far from ideal. Many have had to sit for not just two, but three major public exams while still in school, causing enormous stress at a young age. Exacerbating this problem is the low level of English proficiency among students. With English being the medium of instruction in all—if not most—universities, students end up having to learn in a language they are not fully comfortable using.

More importantly, this generation of university students not only have a massive workload, they have also started working earlier than those before them. As a result, many have to routinely balance work and studies. The pressure is even greater for those who’ve come from outside Dhaka and now have to adjust to a new city, often away from their friends and families for the first time.

To their credit, students do seem to have some level of awareness. Of the students who answered the question of whether they felt that students were entitled, 43.5 percent said “Yes”, 45.5 percent said “Only some are” and the rest said “No”. To the question of why some students thought they got bad grades in a course, a majority (114) chose “Didn’t study enough for it”. Eighty-eight students (45.8 percent) chose “The faculty can sometimes be biased or unfair”, 20 students (10.4 percent) chose “The faculty didn’t curve/inflate my grades” and 59 students (30.7 percent) chose “I struggled but eventually got a desirable grade”.

However, what must be acknowledged is that students don’t always know what’s best for them. A professor whose class they dread now might actually be the class that benefits them the most in the future.

EMOTIONS, INEXPERIENCE, AND OTHER PROBLEMS OF SETS

Criticism of student evaluation of teaching isn’t new. How can students decide what quality education is or judge a teacher’s competence when experts cannot say for certain what a good education is? In an article by Henry A. Hornstein, the various problems with students evaluating teachers are discussed. He writes, “Students can reliably speak about their experience in a course. However, they cannot evaluate outside their experience, i.e. how can they access course pedagogy? By what valid criteria are students able to determine how “knowledgeable” an instructor is about his/her subject area?”

In addition, there is an assumption that the students evaluating will be doing it objectively. Tasnova Humaira, Lecturer at BRAC University, says, “Students may sometimes evaluate negatively because of one bad experience with the teacher, or might evaluate without giving any real thought to the process.”

She adds, “Student feedback is essential in creating an effective classroom environment where students can genuinely reflect on previous knowledge, learn new information and question different ideas without any anxiety.”

Similarly, in a 2010 article in The Daily Star, Abul Bayes, a professor at Jahangirnagar University, defends student evaluations of teachers and writes, “Only an accountable person is a respectable person.”

SOLUTION

A major problem seems to be the lack of transparency and communication between professors and students. When asked what practices teachers engage in that negatively affects students, most chose “Being impatient and unfriendly”. However, 83 students chose “Not showing exam scripts and assignments”, 121 chose “Not explaining to a student why marks were cut” and 38 chose “Losing exam scripts, assignments, and homework”. In turn, 58.3 percent of students said they did not feel that teachers are overworked.

It becomes obvious when looking at this information—both parties could clearly benefit from more discussion. This is further supported by the answers we got to the question of what a good teacher is to a student and the second most chosen option with 78.2 percent selecting “Openly communicates with students about grades, topics discussed in class, etc”.

Students have a right to question their professors and lecturers when they get a grade they feel is wrong. They have a right to know what their mistakes are. And so it is unfair to immediately label all students with complaints as immature and unwilling to take responsibility for their actions. While it is true that many want as easy a workload as possible, many genuinely have difficulty understanding some things.Overall, listening to students might make the journey smoother, both for the university and the students. Student evaluations of teachers might be one of the important ways in which institutions listen to what students have to say.

 
Aliza is Matilda resurrected. Reach her at aliza.hridula@gmail.com


Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/news/teachers-under-the-microscope-1808284

88
Nurturing the changemakers of tomorrow
by Md. Sabur Khan, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Daffodil International University



Entrepreneurs are harbingers of hope. To promote and nourish entrepreneurship, many countries have given substantial attention to entrepreneurship education and strengthening related institutions. Management gurus view entrepreneurial activities as a critical contributor in fostering economic growth and development.

We have observed that both entrepreneurial initiatives and education have expanded significantly in the US and Israel. You will find that the maximum numbers of unicorns are based in the US and China, such as Ant Financial, Airbnb, SpaceX, OLA Cabs, Rubrik. A unicorn is a privately held startup company valued at over USD 1 billion. Among former unicorns, Uber, Facebook, Xiaomi, Alibaba are the more notable ones. Some perfect examples of entrepreneurial legacies are developed in Silicon Valley in Northern California, Austin TX, San Francisco, CA. To boost entrepreneurial initiatives, the US has also developed a unique culture of Angel Investment Ecosystem. All giant startups and entrepreneurial initiatives have been developed by nurturing the entrepreneurial mindset of people. Qatar is also doing good in the domain of innovation and research; for example, Qatar Foundation is working on education, research, and community development.

In our education system, we do not assess or evaluate a person’s natural talents, innovation or entrepreneurial mindset. An innovator or entrepreneur does not only mean being a successful businessperson; people with an entrepreneurial mindset can contribute or engage themselves in different sectors or segments. Those entrepreneurial minded people may be in government, law enforcement agencies or in the corporate sector. These individuals possess unique traits like creativity, innovativeness, ability to take risks. A nation can only progress by nurturing these people.

To maintain sustainable and equitable development, the tertiary-level education system needs to be transformed, focusing heavily on encouraging and cultivating entrepreneurial minded students. Practical or hands-on experience is needed in our education system. At the tertiary level, our students should be involved in practical experiences. Besides, the country’s education needs to adopt innovation, instead of following the archaic method of teaching-learning. The old system should be replaced by Outcome Based Education (OBE). Effective pedagogy and innovative teaching methods can be applied with entrepreneurial minded academics.

We must take into account one thing, that our education system should also focus on the theme of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. We also need to think of our future workforce where emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Internet of Things (IoTs), Robotics will play a pivotal role in production and manufacturing. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, robots could replace 800 million jobs by 2030, while the World Economic Forum suggests that a “skills revolution” could open up a raft of new opportunities. So, our tertiary education should concentrate on innovation in every area. “If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now, we’re going to be in trouble,” said Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, China’s e-commerce giant. The knowledge-based approach of “200 years ago” would “fail our kids”, who would never be able to compete with machines. Children should be taught “soft skills” like independent thinking, values and teamwork, he said.

I believe it is high time we focused on ensuring sustainable education model in the country, where innovation will be an integral part of that process. There are some real-life challenges in the country to establish a good entrepreneurial ecosystem. In tackling the challenges, students should be familiarised with alternative funds like venture capital, angel investment, etc.

At Daffodil International University, we have already planned to introduce courses on robotics in each department. A good number of them have already started their own ventures, which has been facilitated by this holistic initiative. We believe entrepreneurial education creates high job satisfaction. Higher levels of entrepreneurial education achievement lead to higher earnings and reduce the level of unemployment. Of late, many universities around the world are in the process of strengthening their entrepreneurship education programmes in order to create more young entrepreneurs in the future.

We are pretty hopeful as our government formulates various pro-entrepreneurial policies. The government is already set to form a specialised firm (to be called Startup Bangladesh Company Limited), to fund and nurture startups and ICT entrepreneurs under the Innovation Design and Entrepreneur Academy of the ICT division with the view to encouraging innovative ventures in Bangladesh, which is a unique and holistic initiative. It is worth mentioning here that Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in association with Bangladesh Bank, has organised Creating 2000 Entrepreneurs (E2K) in the country. We hope the central bank will come up with more such initiatives to contribute in creating entrepreneurs in the country. The initiative has given the direction to nurture the entrepreneurship process, which was acknowledged and accepted by the government.

Imran Khan, former Chief Strategy Officer of Snap Inc., at a national debate programme remarked: “My talent will not be nourished here; that’s why I have decided to go to the US.” Though it was meant to be a light-hearted comment, it sums up the situation and highlights how we need to stop the brain drain by providing entrepreneurial facilities to the young generation.

Bangladesh has enormous opportunities to grow more. According to a World Bank report, Bangladesh is among the five fastest-growing economies of the world, with a 7.3 percent GDP growth projection in the FY2019. The report also added that Bangladesh’s growth outlook remains strong and stable. Sound macroeconomic policies—such as keeping the budget deficit below 5 percent of GDP—and resilient domestic demand have led to growth in manufacturing and construction industries on the supply side. On the demand side, growth is led by private consumption and exports. Aligning with this trajectory, quality in tertiary education plays a vital role, as the world is now moving towards the fifth industrial revolution. For sustainable growth, we need to build a skilled pool of human resources.

I strongly believe our young population can adjust well, with their inherent power to transform, and can retain the existing progress of the country where entrepreneurial mindset and innovation will work as a catalyst. The new generation of our country needs to be educated and trained up in such a way that they will believe in their own minds that they can become successful entrepreneurs, who will not have to search for jobs, rather will provide jobs to others as Bangladesh works to transform into a “developed country”.


Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/business-analysis/news/nurturing-the-changemakers-tomorrow-1787875


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৫০০ কোটি টাকা মূলধনের সরকারি স্টার্টআপ কোম্পানির অনুমোদন

 
টেক শহর কনটেন্ট কাউন্সিলর : দেশের উদ্যোক্তারা এই কোম্পানি হতে কোনো জামানত ছাড়াই সর্বোচ্চ ৫ কোটি টাকা পর্যন্ত পেতে পারেন। মূলত স্টার্টআপে বিনিয়োগ ও উদ্যোক্তা সংস্কৃতি গড়তে তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি বিভাগের একোম্পানি গঠনের প্রস্তাবে অনুমোদন দিয়েছে সরকার । কোম্পানিটি প্রতিষ্ঠিত হবার পরে স্টার্টআপদেরকে মূল্যায়নের প্রেক্ষিতে সীড স্টেজে সর্বোচ্চ ১ কোটি এবং গ্রোথ গাইডেড  স্টার্টআপ রাঊন্ডে  সর্বোচ্চ ৫ কোটি টাকা বিনিয়োগ করতে পারবে।‘স্টার্টআপ বাংলাদেশ কোম্পানি লিমিটেড’ গঠনের ওই প্রস্তাব সোমবার মন্ত্রিসভার বৈঠকে অনুমোদন দেয়া হয়।প্রধানমন্ত্রীর কার্যালয়ে অনুষ্ঠিত বৈঠকটিতে সভাপতিত্ব করেছেন প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা।বৈঠক শেষে সচিবালয়ে মন্ত্রিপরিষদ সচিব মোহাম্মদ শফিউল আলম সাংবাদিকদের জানান, উদ্যোক্তারা আইডিয়া দিয়েই এই কোম্পানি হতে টাকা পাবেন। ব্যাংকে লোক পেতে যে মর্টগেজসহ কতকিছু লাগে এখানে তার কিছুই লাগবে না।এখানে ঋণের পরিমাণ ও সুদের হার কত হবে তা কোম্পানি কাজ শুরু করলে ঠিক করা হবে বলে জানান তিনি।৫০০ কোটি টাকা কোম্পানিটির অনুমোদিত মূলধন হবে। পরিশোধিত মূলধন হিসেবে ২০০ কোটি টাকা নিয়ে যাত্রা শুরু হবে কোম্পানির।  নিয়ে যাত্রা শুরু করবে। ১০ টাকা হবে একেকটি শেয়ারের অভিহিত মূল্য।কোম্পানির চেয়ারম্যান হবে তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি সচিব। পরিচালকের সংখ্যা হবে ৭ জন। বিভিন্ন মন্ত্রণালয়ের সচিব ও অতিরিক্ত সচিব পদ মর্যাদার কর্মকর্তারা পর্ষদে থাকবেন। এতে ৩৬ জন জনবল থাকার কথা রয়েছে ।এদিকে চলতি বাজেটে স্টার্টআপ খাতে অর্থমন্ত্রী ১০০ কোটি টাকা বরাদ্দ রেখেছেন।

২০১৬ সাল থেকে স্টার্টআপ বাংলাদেশ প্রকল্পের আওতায় এ নিয়ে কাজ করছে আইসিটি বিভাগ। এরপর থেকে এ সংক্রান্ত একটি কোম্পানির গঠনের কার্যক্রম শুরু হয়। নানা ধাপ পেরিয়ে অবশেষে এ বিষয়ক প্রস্তাব সম্প্রতি মন্ত্রিসভায় উপস্থাপনের প্রক্রিয়া শেষ করা হয়।তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি প্রতিমন্ত্রী জুনাইদ আহমেদ পলক জানিয়েছিলেন, এই কোম্পানির মাধ্যমে ২০২১ সালের মধ্যে দেশের এক হাজার স্টার্টআপের পাশে দাঁড়াবেন তারা।কোম্পানির কাজ হবে মূলত বিকাশমান স্টার্টআপের পাশে দাঁড়ানো। এ ক্ষেত্রে সম্ভাবনাময় স্টার্টআপগুলোতে এই কোম্পানি থেকে বিনিয়োগ করার পাশাপাশি সেগুলোর পরিচালনার অংশীদারও হবে।‘সরকারের এক হাজার কোম্পানিতে বিনিয়োগের লক্ষ্য থেকে যদি একটি বিশ্বমানের কোম্পানি বেরিয়ে আসে তাহলে তা পুরাে দেশের চেহারা বদলে দেওয়ার জন্য যথেষ্ট হবে,’ বলেছিলেন পলক।প্রতিমন্ত্রী বলেছিলেন, সরকার চায় না শিক্ষিত তরুণ শুধু চাকরি খুঁজবে, বরং তারা নতুন চাকরির ব্যবস্থা করবে। সে জন্য দেশে স্টার্টআপ সংস্কৃতি গড়ে তোলা দরকার।

Source: https://techshohor.com/155136/%E0%A7%AB%E0%A7%A6%E0%A7%A6-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%82%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%A7%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%95/?fbclid=IwAR2DI4Gl512mEyNvHEwf5ATIL3LldQbF_2zICblaeN3gC8cL_jrvf3fUtUM

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3 priorities for CEOs in 2019

I had a really strong sense of déjà vu when, a little over a year ago, I was elected as KPMG’s new Global Chairman. I felt the same sense of excitement and trepidation I had when, eight years before, I’d taken over as CEO for KPMG Canada. Transformation driven by technology, geopolitical risk and uncertainty, new regulation and competitors all dominated my thinking.

Pretty much every CEO I speak to has a very similar story. Nothing truly prepares you for this kind of role. Being a subject matter or technical expert, leading a country or a global division develops many of the necessary leadership skills and capabilities, but nothing really prepares you for the breadth and pace of issues you’ll face as a CEO.

Most of the CEOs I talk to feel that the Fourth Industrial Revolution – characterized by a fusion of physical, digital and bio technologies – means the job is only going to get tougher.

That anecdotal feedback that I heard as I’ve travelled the world is backed up by our research. We’ve spoken to over 1,300 CEOs leading many of the world’s largest global businesses and found that the best are finding opportunities in this disruption, changing their products and services faster than ever before, and in some cases their entire business model. And those market leading CEOs also recognize the need to develop, and even reshape, their own skills to take on the new challenges they face.

So what are we hearing and, perhaps more importantly, what do CEOs need to focus on in 2019 and beyond to make sure they can successfully lead their businesses through this tumultuous period?

1. Make digital a personal crusade

CEOs need to embrace the digital agenda like never before. Digital is now at the core of virtually every business. I was speaking to the CEO of a large cement manufacturer in South America who brought this home to me when he said he now runs a digital business, where the key decisions he takes are based on data and analytics and computer modelling to forecast future demand, energy pricing and the most efficient forms of delivery.

Setting a digital strategy and leading a digital transformation can’t be delegated. The costs, and stakes, for every business are simply too high.

Yet most CEOs did not get to their leadership role because of their digital background or expertise. Over 70% of the CEOs we spoke to believe they need to lead a radical digitally-led transformation of their business model, and that requires CEOs focusing on their own digital capabilities, learning new skills and being prepared to acknowledge where their knowledge stops, and finding trusted advisers to help shape their decisions.

Understanding cloud, the impact of AI on the workforce, and the fundamentals of cybersecurity are increasingly becoming table stakes for CEOs.

CEOs also recognize that they have a very personal responsibility to protect their customers’ and their employees’ data. Hardly a week goes by without another high-profile media story about a breach of data security. Almost 60% of the CEOs we talked to told us they not only understand this new data paradigm, but they already see protecting customer data as their personal responsibility, and the potential personal consequences for their role if there is a major customer data loss on their watch.

So every CEO has to prioritize and invest the time needed to develop their own digital skills and stay on top of the critical digital issues that they will be held accountable for.

2. Navigate through geopolitical headwinds

Increased geopolitical risk – the threat of political disruption to international trade and investment – has risen to the top of most of the Board agendas for the companies I speak with. And the CEOs we spoke with rated a return to territorialism as the number one threat facing their business.

CEOs understand that they need to hone their global political knowledge and skills and engage with the politicians and civil society leaders, while remaining politically neutral.

CEOs are also acutely aware of the need to build and sustain trust. They tell us that strengthening trust with their important stakeholders is one of the things they know they need to do to reduce the threat posed to their businesses by losing that trust. This is one of the things I see first-hand at KPMG, and we are embarking on a comprehensive programme of initiatives to ensure we can be the most trusted and trustworthy adviser to our clients.

How CEOs see their role in protecting customer data, by country



3. Finding the right balance between data and intuition

We found a surprising digital paradox. CEOs, and the companies they lead, are investing and spending more money on data driven insights than ever before. Yet nearly 70% of the CEOs we spoke to admitted they have relied on their own intuition over data-driven insights to make strategic decisions in the past three years.

More than half of the CEOs we spoke to are less confident in the accuracy of predictive analytics compared to historic data, and have the highest trust for social media sources over all others.

CEOs need to find a better balance between data and intuition, and that inevitably involves spending more time getting deeper into the way that data driven insight for their business is being developed, and how it is used to shape strategy and operational decisions.

Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/ceo-priorities-for-success-in-2019/

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