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AI in Vocational Education: How is it Changing Computer Science?

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On November 20th, together with Carsten Johnson from the Cisco Networking Academy Berufliche Hochschule Hamburg (BHH) conducted a workshop as a small scale event for the project AIRinVET under the title "AI in Vocational Education for Computer Science"  

What is it all about? 

Artificial intelligence (AI) will change the world of work. But what impact will AI have on employees in the IT and technology sector? To find out, Cisco has formed a consortium with eight leading tech companies and two consulting firms to conduct a study on the transformational opportunities of AI for IT professions. This study analysed the skills requirements for the IT professionals of the future. We would like to discuss the findings and solutions with an expert audience from the education sector. 

Aim and audience of the workshop 

We summarised the results of the study and discussed the implementation with selected stakeholders from vocational education and training and reflect on it with the result of AIRinVET. Solutions and realization approaches were discussed and debated in a workshop format. To facilitate exchange and building relations, the workshop was concluded with networking over some finger food. 

The workshop was attended by training companies, companies, voluntary and private education providers, schools, and universities as well as authorities and teacher training institutions. 

Key take aways 

1. The integration of AI into ICT jobs marks a profound shift, promising substantial gains in efficiency, shift in skillsets for current job roles, the creation of new job roles, and notable technological advancements. 

2. AI Competences and digital competences: Interesting frameworks were shown and discussed by members of SMEs, VET Teachers and students and how we can implement into our education 

3. Sustainability: AI systems, particularly those that require extensive data processing and model training, consume significant amounts of electricity and water. We should address this topic permanently to future research work at the BHH. 

The workshop showed that AI offers a great opportunity for vocational education and computer science. It is important to engage with the opportunities and challenges and actively shape the future in a sustainable way. 

Link to the study: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/m/ai-enabled-ict-workforce-consortium/report.pdf