NITK sees Data Science and Business Analytics as growth area for future – joins SetCONNECT Faculty Development initiative
The National Institute of Technology, Karnataka (NITK) has identified Data Science and Analytics as one of the avenues for growth. As one of India’s premier engineering institutions, NITK is preparing itself for the government’s New Education Policy, which is expected to transform higher education.
As part of its transformational efforts, NITK sees that strengthening the faculty’s knowledge of this critical area is vital. The institute has joined the Faculty Development Program of SetCONNECT Inc.
Dr K. Balaveera Reddy, (Former) Chairman, Board of Governor’s of NITK, inaugurating the first FDP conducted by SetConnect stated that the institute was excited to participate in this initiative. He stated that “The New Education Policy of the Government of India – NEP 2020 has highlighted the need for multi-disciplinary, holistic education.
Data Analytics is one of the focus areas that has been identified in NEP2020. NITK has a vison of being a leading institution in this area and therefore developing faculty knowledge and expertise is essential. I am glad that our alumni from SetCONNECT are working with our beloved institute to help us grow in this critical area. This could be the role model for future institution – alumni co-operation, which will ultimately benefit our students”.
Dr. Ananthanarayana, Deputy Director of NITK in his welcome address stressed upon the importance of digitization in all aspects of human life from simple bank transactions to self-driving vehicles and unmanned surgery. The field of Data Analytics is growing due to the increase in ability to collect data, process the data at a low price and the availability of promising algorithms. Dr Ananthanarayana added that “The NEP 2020 has laid a great emphasis on disruptive technologies and multi-disciplinary education.
This Faculty Development program is extremely relevant and timely since it has been tailored for faculty of all disciplines. It also includes an opportunity for faculty to identify analytics projects related to their own individual domains of interest”. He added that the 3 objectives of the specially curated program were a) to appreciate the importance of data analytics in engineering domains, b) master the skills required for application, c) enable participants to embed data analytics in their respective engineering curriculum. He further stated that “This will help our students with application of data analytics in their specific engineering domain. I thank the SetCONNECT team, who are our alumni and came forward to provide this FDP which will be of significant value to the faculty and our institution”.
Dr Ramesh Rajagopalan, CEO of SetCONNECT Inc., and an alumnus of NITK was highly appreciate of the leadership of the institute, especially the Chairman BoG, the Director and the Deputy Director for enabling the Faculty Development program and providing the necessary impetus for building expertise in Data Analytics. He highlighted that “This is an excellent example of academic integration to provide state-of-the-art programs. A lot of detailed preparation and discussion has gone in to make the FDP relevant to the faculty.
We are excited that all the participants are devoting a significant amount of time from their schedules on this course. It is a privilege for us at SetCONNECT to engage with our alma matter. We look forward to a continued association which will benefit the institution, its students and the faculty.”