FEATURE: SKILLS & TRAINING //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
processes far more efficient. Digital Skills
Academy’s unique approach to experiential
learning enables graduates to apply their
new skills immediately. “Digital opens up a world of opportunity, but
it also introduces extensive complexity. To
be successful in any industry, we now need a
world of problem-solvers who think digitally,”
THIS WILL BE THE FIRST UNIVERSITY
ANYWHERE DESIGNED AS A RESPONSE
TO THE CHALLENGES FACING CITIES
TODAY AND IN THE FUTURE.
said Kathryn Baddeley, Head of CSR and
Skills, Cisco UK & Ireland. “We were delighted
to work with Digital Skills Academy to help
their participants develop expertise through
real-world challenges,” she added.
“This was another exciting Industry
Partnership for Digital Skills Academy and
more importantly, it provided programme
participants with hands-on experience of
working with one of the biggest names
in technology and innovation,” said
Paul Dunne, Founder and CEO at Digital
Skills Academy. “They gained invaluable
experience by working in a cross-functional
team, combining the functions of
Paul Dunne, Founder
and CEO at Digital
Skills Academy
Councillor Peter Marland, Leader of Milton
Keynes Council
Cisco provided real-world challenges for
participants to develop their digital skills.
Participants were provided with access to
digital technologies and tools to address the
given challenge and were required to share
the outcome with Cisco.
application development, design, research,
social media integration and Big Data, and
learned how to apply and perform their
learning in real-world situations.”
Christos Koutsiaris, a Senior JavaScript
Developer at SAP Ireland, originally from
Greece, completed Digital Skills Academy’s
BSc Honours Degree in Digital Technology,
Design and Innovation, and was part of the
Cisco Industry Project team. Commenting
on the project, Christos highlighted that
“working with a tech giant such as Cisco
during a four-month project was very
enriching. Not only did I apply key skills
learned during the programme in a very
hands-on business environment, but the
project also enabled me to develop other
competencies around digital collaboration
and agile project development.” n
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