From 7 to 9 June 2016 the first LUISS MASTIS project workshop was held that involved the participation of the LUISS Business School as a key role among the European partners. MASTIS project is funded by the European Union within the framework of Capacity-Building actions of the Erasmus programme + that has the aim to create new paths of master information systems at the University of Ukraine and Montenegro. The workshop is part of the activities of the first work package of the project and is focused on the identification of existing educational pathways and approaches adopted for training on the information systems in the different countries represented in the project.
Representatives from universities and professional associations of France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia, Ukraine and Montenegro, have worked for three days at viale Romania campus, alternating with moments of networking sessions and interactive sessions. The debate between the project partners focused on the requirements for the design of information systems and Master level courses were discussed topics ranging from skills to teaching methods, through the Exchange and sharing of experiences on existing practices and training needs in the various countries.
The activities of the workshop started with the analysis of the existing programmes in the field of information systems and reference was made to the contents of Eduglopedia, the portal that collects information systems courses and curricula. The project partners were compared on different orientations that characterize the paths in this field of study. In particular the Ukrainian partners and Eastern Europe have shown a greater orientation to the topics of computer science, while European partners emphasized the multidisciplinary character of subjects typical of a managerial approach.
The increasing pervasiveness of digital technologies brings change in the ways in which people and organizations perform. Many of these technologies have spread beyond the borders of the technical and operational organizational units, to contaminate other areas and grow accordingly in the market demand for new professional profiles, capable of breaking disciplinary silos and to leverage on digital to bring innovation in organizations. As a result, MASTIS project members launched a reflection on new skills that the labour market is expected to fill, not necessarily technical, but that require involving meaningful contact with digital technologies. In support of the discussion it was illustrated by AICA, one of the project partners, the European framework e-CF, of which the Association will take into account the definition of a questionnaire for data collection from firms of Ukraine and Montenegro.
A second theme widely discussed during the workshop focused on innovation and the updating of teaching methods in order to enrich the learning experienceof students and to prepare them to meet the challenges that universities face constantly by the evolving labour market. During the workshop there were presented and discussed relevant experience on innovation educational practices from a managerial point of view, technological, pedagogical and didactic. In this context, the team of LUISS presented recent initiatives involving the use of tools and digital platforms for collaborative learning and the development of the Massive Open Online Courses (eg. From International Relations to Global Politics).
Professor Marlei Pozzebon of HEC Montreal and FGV San Paolo, visiting the Department of business and Management, has been invited by the consortium to present her experience with transformative learning. This educational approach has been applied in practice through an interactive session in which participants tried to “transform” the syllabus of their courses, reflecting with colleagues on the feasibility and the limits of the possible choices. Transformative learning is not theoretical or practical content aimed at conveying to students, but rather to stimulate awareness and critical thinking in comparison with real problems and the design of solutions.
“The success of the workshop confirmed the importance of LUISS playing an active role and driving force within the project MASTIS. The project represents an interesting arena of confrontation with realities that have developed complementary capabilities and who are facing similar challenges on the grounds of the digital transformation“. This is the comment of Professor Spagnoletti, Executive Program Director in IT Governance and Management (EMIT) of LUISS Business School and representative of the University project MASTIS.