Ўзбекистон республикaси иқтисодий тaрaқҚиёт

 
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. 

---

10 
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»); 

---

11 

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. 

---

12 
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.