Discussion
When I asked the dean of a renown Business School in London: "Do higher education institutions have a reasonably precise sense of the impact of their courses on the labour market? " The answer was "We don't". Without reliable real-time data today, none of us can improve services or predict future strategies. Both higher education and employers need digital systems to granularly track the skills students earn and the combined skills they have developed. Many employers including Google and IBM are moving away from graduate-based hiring and building their own Academies becoming new forms of "learning hubs" that provide valuable and measurable skills. COVID-19 has accelerated the pressure for higher-education institutions to demonstrate the added value of their offer. Those that will add to their online courses a traceable and secure credential, will expand the reach of their brands, give a spendable asset to their students, and most importantly, will provide themselves with a reliable source of real-time information over demand and supply of skills.
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