PREPARATION

WP1 Development of a new program in Advanced Data Analytics in Business

In the first project year, immediately after the kick off meeting at UNS, an analysis of best practise at EU universities and comparative analysis of status in the field of business analytics (BA) will be done. This will make a solid basis for the  start of the real work at the project. Together with stakeholders an analysis of learning outcomes and competencies which must have any business analyst, taking into account particular situation in Serbia, will be done. Based on the analysis of best practise at EU universities and necessary learning outcomes and competencies, the curriculum (program, syllabi of all the courses, potential modules, and ECTS) will be developed. In order to do this in an optimal way, visits of EU experts in the field of BA will be organized. The new curricula at UNS, UBG and UNI and all the courses will be prepared through a series of meetings, where also professionals from companies will be present. UNIKG will innovate existing study programs and open the new courses from the field of BA. Also, UNIKG will participate fully in LLL programs. Once finished, the program will be verified through the accreditation process as soon as possible. For curriculum development, courses in statistics, operational research, econometrics, risk analysis, supply chain management, data mining, predictive modelling, multivariate testing, will be revised in order to be more compatible with business analytics, while completely new courses will be machine learning, big data analytics, text analytics, data visualization, business intelligence reporting, and self-service analytics platforms.

WP2 Preparations for implementation of new master and LLL programs

Advises about necessary equipment will be requested from EU colleagues. A necessary software for statistical analysis, data mining, predictive modelling, big data and text analytics will be bought for Serbian universities.

A necessary condition for starting the new program is that the staff is trained to teach new courses, to use new equipment and software and to learn new teaching methodology. Therefore, study visits to EU will be organized for teachers who will teach new courses. Teachers will travel to corresponding centres, depending on the course they will be specialized for.  Later on, a workshop in Serbia concerning methodology will be organized, where specialists from EU will come to share their knowledge and provide know how to academics in Serbia. Again, it is planned that specialists from companies take part in the workshop, drawing attention to necessary knowledge in practise. In parallel, teachers will prepare teaching material for the new courses. The material will be evaluated by external experts and their opinion will be taken into account when preparing the final version of the material. LLL program will also be prepared for professionals already working in different areas of economy and other sectors using advanced data analytics.

DEVELOPMENT

WP3 Implementation of the program

As soon as possible, activities on the accreditation of master program will be launched, since the accreditation procedure could be very long. The number of students that will enrol the program at UNS, UNI and BU is around 60. LLL program will also be organized for professionals already working in different areas of economy at 4 Serbian universities. Professionals from companies and other stakeholders will also participate at LLL seminars. Choice of suitable topics will be done during the SC meeting where also representatives of stakeholders will be present and which will share their opinion on suitable topics for LLL seminar.

DISSEMINATION & EXPLOITATION

WP4 Dissemination and exploitation of project results

D&E of the project results will outlive project lifetime with the goal to spread the information about master studies in the region of Western Balkans and beyond, which is of crucial importance for success of the project. The key goal of this WP is to raise awareness of all stakeholders of benefits of studying ADA which should ensure sustainability of project results. The project will use various communication and dissemination tools. A series of lectures for students at bachelor studies will be organized before the start of the new master program. One-day seminars for presentation of LLL program to professionals working in different fields will be organized at 4 centres in Serbia.

QUALITY PLAN

WP5 Quality control and monitoring

Quality control will be carried out according to developed quality and assessment plan. All partners will generate and submit internal reports about performed quality control activities. They will be in contact with each other and resolve problems about reaching of milestones. All internal reports will be submitted to Steering Committee (SC), which will generate and submit final report about quality. Also a report of two independent external experts will be ordered about study program. Finally, opinion of students who will finish first year of studies and also of specialist attended LLL courses will be sought and final tuning of the program will be made before the second generation of students enrol the program.

MANAGEMENT

WP6 Project Management

UNS (coordinator) will establish functional connections with all partners and support them in achieving their goals and planned project tasks. All partners will attend a kick-off meeting to ensure that all have the same understanding of the project management principles and tasks. Members of project management will communicate on daily basis. During the period of the project, beside kick-off meeting, 6 coordination meetings will be organized (2-4 days every six months) for discussing issues that arise during the project and coordination of the following project activities.

In the case of Serbian partners, Local Committee will be organized for implementation of project activities and reporting on the overall project management to the SC. LC will be responsible for the project implementation at national level and the preparation of 2 annual reports to the SC.