Swinburne Uni launches tech mini-courses to upskill business leaders

The national tech skills shortage isn’t just a problem for companies looking to beef up their IT teams and bring new blood to the organisation - increasingly, business leaders need to know the ins and outs of technology to make informed decisions to boost growth.

To help them do that, Swinburne University has launched a suite of five online “micro units” which deputy vice-chancellor (academic), professor Duncan Bentley, said the university had developed by combining its research expertise with industry intelligence.

Swinburne consulted with a number of companies while developing the courses, including Wipro, Ignite, Macutex, and Talent International to ensure the subjects’ relevance to both emerging trends in technology and enterpise use cases.

Wipro’s Asia Pacific head of AI and Automation, Sriram Bhargav, said he’s witnessing a race in the market to adopt artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

“And, as a result, more business leaders are working to bridge the gaps in their own capabilities and skills gaps in their workforce,” he said.

“Organisations need skilled talent to be able to translate these niche technologies into better decision-making and more valuable strategies with the right return on investment.”

The first round of micro unit courses to be offered includes:

• Cyber security strategy for leaders
• Creating business value through intelligent automation and chatbots
• Big data and analytics: What questions should you ask?
• Designing successful products and services in the Industry 4.0 era
• Leading in the future world of work.

“In a rapidly transforming world of work, Swinburne is committed to helping leaders to be effective by partnering with companies that have valuable insights into what future leaders need,” Bentley added.

“Offering the micro units through Swinburne Online gives professionals an opportunity to enhance their career prospects in a fast and flexible way.”

Each micro unit is billed at taking six weeks to complete, requiring between four and six hours of study each week.

The university also hinted at the possible expansion of the micro-credential program in this space, however, it already offers other short courses for professional through Swinburne Online.

The first intake of students will begin later this month.