The University of Aberdeen will launch a new training package in e-commerce technology, which has been supported by funding to the tune of £1million, in September.
The Department of Computing Science has received combined funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and leading e-business companies, notably Sun Microsystems, for the new masters-level course.
The course is designed to meet a significant need for skilled e-commerce technologists, by preparing IT specialists for the next five to 10 years of growth in electronic business.
University of Aberdeen Principal, Professor C Duncan Rice, said: "This is an exciting new venture for the University, offering flexible postgraduate training in an area of great importance to the UK economy."
Course Director Dr Alun Preece said that industry reports had confirmed that a lack of information and communications technology expertise was holding back the UK. The DTI's recently-published International Benchmarking Study found that ‘companies generally cited a shortage of ICT skills as a major barrier to e-commerce development’.
Colin Will, Solution Centre Manager of Electronic Data Systems in Aberdeen, said: “We are delighted that Aberdeen University has proactively established this course.
“EDS is recognised as a leader in assuring clients are successful in the digital economy. We depend on recruiting graduates with modern skills and a good grasp of how they can be applied to the emerging business models.”
Dr Peter Edwards, who led the course development team, said: "We aim to provide more than just state-of-the-art skills training. While established technologies will be covered, the course will also aim to look beyond the immediate horizon to new developments and next generation techniques, especially in business-to-business e-commerce.
“We'll be drawing upon our internationally-recognised research strengths in areas such as customer profiling, electronic marketplaces, intelligent user interfaces, and knowledge asset management.”
The new course is aimed at graduates who already have a level of qualification in IT, and who are looking to specialise in e-commerce. In addition to providing training in technical skills, a significant portion of the course covers the business context for e-commerce. The University of Aberdeen's Department of Management Studies and School of Law will also contribute to the teaching.
A significant number of enhanced EPSRC studentships are available for students who want to take the course full-time for one year, leading to an MSc degree qualification. Each of the individual training units will be taught and assessed in an intensive 3-week period, designed to make them accessible for Continuing Professional Development or part-time study.
Project work is designed to address real-world e-business problems and will be offered in collaboration with many of the companies and organisations who have already offered their support for the course, including BP Amoco, Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Hewlett-Packard, the Scottish Software Federation, and Sun Microsystems.
The new course is part of a significant expansion in the coverage of electronic commerce and internet topics in the Department of Computing Science's degree programmes, which also includes new BSc degrees in Computing & E-Business, and Internet Information Systems.
For further information, contact:
Dr Alun Preece
Electronic Commerce Technology Course Director Email apreece@csd.abdn.ac.uk
Department of Computing Science Phone 01224 272296
University of Aberdeen Fax 01224 273422
Aberdeen AB24 3UE Course website www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/ecommerce
Alison Ramsay, University Press Officer on (01224) 273778
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.