Great news for the end of the year! The Agency for Mobility and European Union Programs has accepted funding for the project entitled "Artificial Intelligence for People, Planet and Profit - AI4PPP" led by Algebra University College. This project brings together three European universities: Algebra University College from Croatia; the Faculty of Applied Social Studies from Nova Gorica, Slovenia; and Universidad de Alcalá from Spain. All three institutions are noted research centers in the field of digital transformation. The project is funded by the call KA220-HED entitled “Cooperation for Partnerships in Higher Education”.
AI4PPP is an interdisciplinary project attending to the shortcomings of current educational curriculums and needs of the marketplace by engaging in awareness-raising, holistic and flexible approaches to the business aspects of artificial intelligence. The proposed educational modules- to be created through the project – will not only provide the basic background and language, and the technical and social impact, of artificial intelligence, but will also show the potential arising from the implementation of artificial intelligence in all professions and industries.
MBA students are the recipients of our project because, we believe, as do our project partners, that universities in general, and MBA programs in particular, can significantly raise the awareness of leaders in the public and private sector regarding the potential from the careful, but also determined, applicative possibilities of artificial intelligence. MBA students represent a target group of future leaders which, given a sound understanding of artificial intelligence and its almost limitless opportunities, can respond according to their local surroundings to motivate significant change in the current negative attitudes towards artificial intelligence.
The first component of the project is to conduct research allowing us to analyze and assess the level of understanding to the possibility of artificial intelligence in our target audience. Second, we will use DACUM analysis to map the knowledge and skills in our group members after they successfully complete the curriculum on artificial intelligence. Based on these two findings, we will then move on in developing teaching materials according to the previously identified needs of the target groups. Moreover, we will conduct a pilot to check the quality of educational modules and materials, and, if necessary, make changes accordingly. We will specify the implementation of artificial intelligence of the developed scenarios for the use of artificial intelligence in selected industries. The final element of the project will be a handbook for the effective learning of artificial intelligence, containing answers to the current challenges and trends in artificial intelligence in regards to various business environments.
Events will be a key aspect of the project also, including conferences, workshops, promotional and other types of informative events so as to disseminate the results of the project and work towards their promotion. Depending on epidemiological measures, we will attempt to organize the events live, but with the added feature of an online presence, to increase the audience reach overall and safeguard if needed.
Europe’s current and future sustainable economic growth and societal wellbeing increasingly draws on the utility of data. Artificial intelligence is one of the most important applications of the data economy and thus the most likely tool for business development crucial for the protection of society and the planet while ensuring profitability at the same time. We believe that our project will contribute to the resolution of misunderstandings surrounding artificial intelligence and will help to create an all-inclusive ecosystem where different members of the community will be armed with the basic skills necessary to adapt to a changing world where artificial intelligence will be prevalent.
We look forward to future collaborations with our new project partners, and new project insights, academic acquaintances and friendships.