Data Literacy for Everyone

How the Qlik Academic Program is enabling our future leaders, too

In today’s world, data drives pretty much everything we do. There’s no question that, for tomorrow’s workforce to be successful, they will need exceptionally strong analytical and data literacy skills, along with the tools and know-how to keep pace with rapid change.

But here’s the twist: these skills are not just important for future business analysts anymore. It’s for everyone. Including – and I would say especially – our future leaders. Why? To quote a recent excellent article on this topic, “Data literacy is the new intellectual underpinning of every successful strategy going forward.”

In a previous post, I wrote about how Qlik is helping solve the data literacy gap through our Qlik Academic Program. The Qlik Academic Program is open to professors and students of any accredited university-level institution worldwide. For the past five years, we’ve been providing students the skills and tools they need to succeed – while ensuring that professors are empowered with the best course materials on the most modern data analytics platform.

Tackling Data Literacy at the root

The Qlik Academic Program offers a free, full-year subscription to Qlik software as well as to Qlik’s online learning portal, the Qlik Continuous Classroom. The program also provides professors with a data analytics curriculum which is designed as an easily adoptable university-level program with ready-to-teach, free resources – including instructor-led content, in-class activities and student assignments. With the Qlik Continuous Classroom, students get full access to a distance learning platform which allows them to completely customize their learning journey based on their individual needs. Learners can choose from more than 125 modules containing videos, exercises and quizzes. They can also interact directly with Qlik instructors and other learners, leveraging web conferencing tools and forums to quickly obtain answers and share best practices.

Our leaders are just like the rest of us–they need #dataliteracy. #Qlik is tackling that problem at the root:

Opening the doors to success

Since launching the program five years ago, we’ve heard quite a few success stories from previous students who have successfully transitioned to the real world thanks to the training offered by our program. Our most recent example is from Nicole DeNicola, who was a student at the University of South Florida… who was NOT studying analytics when she met Chris Moyer, the CEO of SME Solutions Group, a Qlik partner. After learning about Chris’s company, she became very interested in analytics and decided to change her major! Chris hired her as an intern and encouraged her to join the Qlik Academic Program for the free software and training. She was accepted and she took full advantage of all the program had to offer, including Qlik Continuous Classroom. In addition to the online training, SME also offered her some in-person training and the opportunity to work on some Qlik applications. She graduated and was hired as a full-time Qlik developer with SME. With the combination of her training and real-world experience, she went on to achieve 3 Qlik Sense Certifications: Business Analyst, Data Architect and System Administrator, as well as her certificate to be an Authorized Qlik Trainer. Now she pays it forward by visiting the University of South Florida to hold workshops, demo Qlik software and discuss the benefits of the Academic Program with professors as well as undergraduate and graduate students. Nicole shared, “Qlik gave me the foundation, and SME gave me the opportunity to put the knowledge into action with first-hand client experience. I came full circle, from student to ambassador.”

Again, this is just one of many stories that showcase the value of the Qlik Academic Program to the Data Analytics community, for individuals and companies alike. We hope this story inspires other students to join the program for the free resources in the hopes they can either get an internship or get hired! Ready to get started? Start here
 

In this article:

Keep up with the latest insights to drive the most value from your data.

Get ready to transform your entire business with data.

Follow Qlik