Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/794736
43 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 MARCH 2017 Information Technology insight about the industry Educators Which degree does this study unit form part of? This study unit forms part of the pro- gramme of the BSc Honours in Business and IT which is offered by FEMA, in col- laboration with the Faculty of Information Communications Technology (FICT) at the University of Malta. How did this collaboration with MITA come about? When I took over my role as Head of De- partment of Management, I requested a meeting with MITA's Executive Chairman, Mr Tony Sultana and MITA's Head of Strat- egy and Business, Engineer Emanuel Dar- manin. During this meeting, we discussed and explored potential ways in which MITA and FEMA can collaborate. This module is a result of that meeting. What careers can students endeavour to pursue following the successful attainment of their degree? Apart from technical staff, today organisa- tions need people who are capable of un- derstanding strategies and help the opera- tions to improve. In this context, we have created this unit to create a strong bridge or marriage between IT techniques and as- pects of leadership. A few months ago I performed a tracer study to see where our students are going after they study the degree that we are of- fering. Our students are working as Systems and Business Analysts, Junior Web Software Developers and Designers, Junior Database Administrators, Junior IT Consultants, IT Technical Communicators, Software test- ers, project leaders, IT recruiters, IT tutors, research analysts and even some entrepre- neurs in IT. What plans do you have for any future collaboration with MITA? Yes, in the last weeks there were discus- sions between MITA and our Department. Through this course of Business and IT we are applying for EU funds together with MI- TA and the Faculty to work on several pro- jects together. Our goal is that in the future we continue doing our best so that MITA and FEMA collaborate together. We believe that it is important for our students to un- derstand the bridge between what they learn at University and what the industry re- ally needs. That is the most important thing for us. It would be futile for any student to do a course at University if he or she can- not understand what the industry needs. Therefore, our aim is to continue working together to achieve more for the students. How was the feedback about this study unit so far? I would like to emphasize that our main goal is not to teach content to our students but to help them form their character. Eve- ryone knows that after some time the con- mtent becomes absolete but the skills they learn will be theirs to keep throughout their careers. These units, together with intern- ships within MITA and other organisations, really help these students. It is also impor- tant that students embark on Erasmus ex- change programmes where they can spend up to one year learning abroad. It is also important to note that there were many students who took ideas from these units to develop their thesis or identified a mentor with whom they can work on it. We are very satisfied with this collaboration and this study unit is like the cherry on the cake of the course. We are happy that all of our students get employed, with a number of them getting contracts even before they finish their stud- ies. However, as I have emphasized before, our interest is not limited to helping them find a job but also to help them in the for- mation of their character. Student – Andrea Mallia What was your overall experience of this study unit, given that its delivery was somewhat different? What we enjoyed mostly about this course is that it provided hands on expe- rience unlike other modules which focus completely on theory. This helped us to gain further insight on how the industry and MITA work. In this way, we were given an insight of what we will encounter when we eventually complete our studies and start working. We also enjoyed our relationship with the tutors. It helped us to feel more com- fortable to ask questions and to engage ourselves during lessons. They created a welcoming environment that helped us learn more. What did you take away from this experience? As part of the assignment we had to pre- pare and deliver a presentation to people who actually work in the industry. There- fore, we had to prepare ourselves more for this challenge. In this way, we improved our presentation skills to a more profes- sional level. In your opinion, what would you improve or add to this module? As we have already told Daniela, we sug- gest an amendment to the weight of the assignment carried out. We believe that it should be given more weight, being that the presentation involved a lot of work. We also think that it could help if stu- dents are taken for more on-site visits. We went to MITA's Data Centre and saw the ongoing operation. For us it was an important hands on experience and so it would be interesting to organise more of these visits. Prof Frank Bezzina, Dr Vincent-Anthony Marmara and Andrea Mallia