Riccardo Ocleppo, is the Founder & Director of the Open Institute of Know-how. (OPIT). OPIT is a absolutely accredited Larger Training Establishment beneath the European Qualification Framework (EQF) and the MFHEA Authority. As such, OPIT levels have full authorized worth in Europe and are professionally acknowledged by employers.
Earlier than OPIT, Riccardo based Docsity, a worldwide neighborhood with 15M registered college college students and a consolidated accomplice of 250+ Universities and Enterprise Faculties worldwide. Riccardo holds an MSc in Electronics at Politecnico di Torino, an MSc in Administration at London Enterprise College.
In 2010, you launched Docsity, a platform that helps college students excel of their research by providing them the instruments they should put together for his or her exams. What have been your key takeaways from this expertise?
As a pupil in digital engineering, all the time aspiring for the most effective grades, I by no means had sufficient examine materials to organize for my exams, particularly by way of examine notes, workouts and mock exams. My college – Politecnico di Torino – certainly offered many assets, however I nonetheless wanted extra. I felt this want was in some way shared with many different college students in numerous fields of examine, universities and geographies. From this easy perception, I created Docsity, a spot the place college college students can share and discover helpful educational content material with one another and enhance their preparation for exams. This expertise led me to work with each college students and universities, shaping my imaginative and prescient of the standing and wishes of the upper training sector at the moment.
How did this expertise lead you to launching an accredited Larger Training Establishment?
With Docsity, we proactively collaborate and accomplice with greater than 250 universities and educational establishments worldwide in quite a lot of areas. The entire larger training market is fascinating, with lots occurring and lots to be accomplished, largely by way of innovating/modernizing the curricula of levels, absolutely embracing on-line studying, and focusing much more on purposes (and never simply principle).
With the Open Institute of Know-how (OPIT), we’re doing simply that: progressive, high-quality Levels in tech fields at a really inexpensive worth.
Are you able to focus on how OPIT differentiates itself from different AI programs which are supplied?
Our Levels at OPIT span completely different areas: Pc Science, AI, Knowledge Science, Cybersecurity and Digital Enterprise. AI is embedded in each single Diploma we provide from a number of angles. We train aspiring Cybersecurity professionals how Generative AI is altering the world of cyber threats or how it may be used to assist digital forensics. We train digital enterprise college students tips on how to embed AI within the merchandise they aspire to create. We have now a technical AI program for aspiring programmers on this area the place they go deep into all of the “AI verticals” (NLP, Pc Imaginative and prescient, AI for IoT and Automation), and so forth. One vital factor to underline is that wherever we speak about AI, we additionally embed the ideas of ethics, duty and human-centeredness.
OPIT presents a Grasp’s Diploma (MSc) in Accountable Synthetic Intelligence. Are you able to focus on why accountable AI must be on the forefront of AI training?
The Grasp of Science (MSc) in Accountable AI is a technical program in AI that strongly embeds the idea of “duty”. Future AI tech professionals have to be technically savvy and absolutely perceive the societal implications of what they are going to code and create.
This system presents robust foundations in AI throughout time period 1, overlaying areas like Machine Studying and superior Python programming. Then goes deeper in Time period 2, by specializing in “verticals” like NLP and Pc Imaginative and prescient and the appliance of AI in numerous contexts by hands-on tasks. Time period 3 is the place college students put their acquired information to work by a Capstone undertaking.
How does OPIT’s curriculum particularly handle the hole between theoretical information and sensible expertise in know-how and AI, as talked about by Professor Francesco Profumo?
Creating our levels in order that they supply college students with “applicative” and “hands-on” expertise has been a key precedence for us because the very starting. First, we employed high academicians and professors who mix robust educational expertise and a related skilled background. We’re very clear about who our school is, and all our professors are listed on the web site and often up to date. The skilled expertise of our professors is our greatest assure that they will construct related, applicative case research on high of the speculation.
By hiring professors who’re effectively versed in know-how and AI fields, they will higher train college students the sensible expertise wanted as they themselves have been within the area with this know-how and have first-hand expertise with it.
How does OPIT be certain that its levels, accredited inside the European Qualification Framework, are acknowledged and valued by employers globally, and particularly within the USA?
Our levels have full authorized worth in Europe, and like for some other EU establishment, I don’t see any impediment to employers’ correctly valuing a level from an accredited establishment. We’re additionally working with certification our bodies within the U.S. to broaden and combine this recognition from U.S. educational establishments.
You constructed OPIT utilizing a top-down method, how does this method apply to constructing an training platform?
When constructing a brand new Larger Training Establishment, you need to guarantee you could have all the important thing administration onboard from day one. This rings true particularly should you construct one thing extraordinarily progressive and disruptive. I discovered this the most effective method to ensure the alignment between the mission/technique and its execution.
You might be actively, and closely, concerned within the recruiting of OPIT College of Professors. What expertise do you search for in a professor?
Our recruitment course of is extremely selective and thorough. We largely search for three issues:
- Being a powerful academician: you understand how to show, and you like doing so
- Related skilled expertise exterior academia to ensure you cannot solely train principle but in addition tips on how to use it in apply
- Sturdy curiosity in OPIT and alignment with our mission
There’s a powerful deal with enterprise in lots of the programs which are supplied, why ought to entrepreneurs think about taking these programs?
Sure, even in know-how Levels, we like to present our college students a broader view. The professionals of tomorrow will want to have the ability to join the dots and adapt rapidly. To take action, they should broaden their horizons.
If college students consider launching their very own startup, our levels can be an ideal match to accumulate robust expertise from a number of angles and join with a vibrant neighborhood the place they’ll possible have the ability to discover their future co-founders.
Thanks for the nice interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to OPIT.
