ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE:
EXPERIENCE OF THE FACULTY OF DIGITAL ECONOMY OF BELARUS
STATE ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY
Dmitry Marushka – Dean of the Faculty
of Digital Economy, Belarus State Economic University
The current digital transformation of social relations implies a massive
«embedding» of information technology both in traditional activities and the formation
on their basis of completely new forms of economic interactions that have not been
seen before.
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A specialist in the digital economy era should have very broad competencies, most
of which he can get by working on real projects and solving specific problems.
The creation of the Faculty of Digital Economy of Belarus State Economic
University is due to the high demand for highly qualified personnel in the labor market
of the information technology field.
Faculty of Digital Economy was established in accordance with the Decree of the
University Council No. 20 dated from April 30, 2019 «On the Creation of the Faculty
of Digital Economy in the structure of the Belarus State Economic University» and
was launched on August 1, 2019 in accordance with the order of the rector No. 739-A
of July 4, 2019 «On the establishment of the Faculty of Digital Economy».
The faculty is a scientific and educational unit and conducts both research and
educational activities.
Our priorities are the following:
Priority 1. Adaptation of educational standards, programs and curricula to changes
in the labor market under the influence of digitalization.
Priority 2. Integration of corporate and university education.
Priority 3. The introduction of modern interactive forms of training in educational
programs based on the information technology usage.
Priority 4. Improving the level of digital and entrepreneurial literacy of students
and university instructors in the framework of the concept of «University 3.0».
Priority 5. Internationalization of the educational process.
Priority 6. Acting as a local driver for the digital transformation of the economy
and society.
The basis for the creation and development of the faculty is a close cooperation
with organizations that hire our graduates.
Faculty mission is to contribute to the increase of human capital through
specialized research and implementation of international educational interdisciplinary
programs aimed at training new generation specialists that gain modern knowledge and
skills in the field of information technology and economy, have a high level of
competitiveness in the high-tech sectors of the labor market and are actively involved
in digital transformation of the national economy.
The objective of the faculty is to launch and execute new practice-oriented
international interdisciplinary educational programs and projects aimed at training
highly competitive professionals working at the junction of such areas of knowledge
as digital business, high-tech projects management, business process modeling,
information systems development, product development, data analysis, managerial
economics and business strategy.
The faculty consists of five departments: department of statistics, department of
information technology, department of higher mathematics, department of business
informatics and department of mathematical methods in economics.
The faculty provides training for specialists in the following specialties and
specializations:
1-25 01 12 «Business informatics»;
1-31 03-06 02 01 «Economic cybernetics» (specialization «Optimal planning
and management in the economy»);
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1-25 01 05 «Statistics».
The faculty prepares specialists who know how to make business successful with
the help of information technology.
Our students study programming, ERP, CRM and BI systems, digital marketing,
basic tools for modeling business processes, data analysis and much more.
Naturally, in addition to special curricula, they study general scientific, general
professional and socio-humanitarian courses. Degree programs are very rich and
developed in order to train highly qualified specialists that are demanded by the
companies.
Doctors and candidates of sciences, as well as representatives of the real sector
participate in our educational process. Favorable conditions have been created for the
participation of guest lecturers from the IT industry in the educational process of the
faculty, organization of master classes and conduction of excursions for university
students to the offices of advanced IT companies, government bodies, as well as other
for profit and non-profit organizations.
The content of our degree programs is discussed with our partners including
residents of the High-Tech Park Belarus in order to make our classes more practice-
oriented. Practical classes are held not only at the university but also in the training
laboratories of IT companies.
English-language content is actively used in our educational process. The open
branches of our departments allow our students to study the specifics of the business
activities of our partner companies. Famous large companies are interested in
cooperation with our faculty; therefore, the number of our partners is constantly
increasing. It broadens the base both for internships and for the employment of our
graduates.
Knowledge and skills gained by our graduates as a result of training are in demand
at all innovative enterprises of the country. Our graduates can work in software
development companies, in high-tech industries, in digital agencies and research
organizations as well as in other enterprises that have a need for multidisciplinary
specialists such as data analysts, system analysts (business analysts), system architects
(business architects), sales managers of IT solutions and complex technical systems,
information technology managers (project managers), management information
systems consultants, product managers and others.
Benefits of studying with us are the following:
opportunity to work in a highly profitable and fast-growing IT industry;
consistently high demand for IT professionals;
a wide range of opportunities for professional development;
career prospects in the field of information technology;
obtaining modern knowledge from leading researchers of the country and
practitioners from well-known IT companies;
development of practical skills on real projects.
In current academic year our faculty faces very serious and large-scale issues.
First, we need to build internal interaction processes with our departments and
create digital communication channels with all our employees and students.
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Second, the faculty needs to develop an internal and international development
strategy including digital branding and positioning strategy and educational services
promotion in the domestic and foreign markets. It involves solving a wide range of
various issues such as developing faculty symbols (logo, flag, anthem, etc.),
determining competitive advantages, creating a modern multilingual faculty portal, and
more. Definitely, it is important to form a positive image of our new faculty among
students, lecturers, potential partnering companies that act as employers and our future
applicants.
Third, updating educational standards and programs of study to the changes that
occur in the labor market and restructuring way of courses delivery under the influence
of digitalization and COVID-19 are the most important activities of the faculty for the
coming years. It is planned to actively implement advanced forms of practice-oriented
training based on the usage of information technology as well as intensive usage of
English-language content in our educational process.
Faculty of Digital Economy is the optimal «platform» for the formation of
research and business partnerships that is the next step in implementing a long-term
development strategy of the university, maintaining and strengthening the status of the
country's leading university in the field of economic and business education,
strengthening the competitive position of the Belarus State Economic University in the
domestic and international markets of educational services and the development of
research and pedagogical schools.
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