The University of Stirling recently hosted a day long event for the Datalab students from Dundee, RGU and Stirling. The theme of the day was a "Tech-Data-Startup-Challenge" in which students were treated to a series of short talks about technology startups, business modelling, raising finance and new data technology. Students were then split into groups and each group was asked to conceive a new idea for a data technology startup company.
After a short time to work on their ideas and the aspects of a business model such as revenue streams, customer identification, marketing channels and resource requirements, each group gave a short pitch in a Dragons' Den style session. Event organiser, Kevin Swingler said "I must say the students did very well in the face of tough questioning from the dragons. Our thanks also go out to the members of the panel including representatives from SAS, Think Analytics, HSBC, Scottish Enterprise and the Stirling Management School."
The students' business ideas covered diverse subjects such as online retail, refuse collection and health and safety assessments. Kevin added "I hope the event went some way to opening the students' eyes to wider questions of how code is turned into money. Employers need staff with good technical skills, but they must also understand how technology fits into the overall business. The Stirling Big Data MSc. is designed to equip students with the skills they will need in work - both technical and commercial".
The Data Lab enables industry, public sector and world-class university researchers to innovate and develop new data science capabilities in a collaborative environment. Its core mission is to generate significant economic, social and scientific value from big data.
