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Today we will be introducing you to our Qlik Professor Ambassador who is based in the UK. Richard Wilkinson is a Senior Lecturer in Computing at the University of Worcester. He first started working with the Qlik Academic Program in 2019 when he embedded our software and resources into his Data Driven Decisions module and since then he has been a great advocate of the program, encouraging many other staff at Worcester to get involved too.
Richard decided to apply to become a professor ambassador as he is always keen to take part in knowledge exchange and he also wanted to raise awareness of the Qlik Academic Program with other educators. Richard commented: “It’s a great honour to be chosen and a great opportunity.”
As well as wanting to champion the Qlik specific software and resources provided by the Academic Program, Richard is also very mindful of the broader Data Literacy element and addressing the current skills gap. “I think that data literacy is something that every country in the world needs to invest in for its students and we have got a real opportunity to be at the forefront of this,” said Richard. “The one thing that is certain in the future is that the importance of data will only increase, so we need to set students up with the skills to succeed in any career path they choose.” Richard sees data literacy as the next big challenge to face all companies and industries globally. “As there is increasing pressure on organisations to become data driven to survive, there is also increased demand for data literate graduates entering the workforce, and we need to support students to be equipped to meet this demand.”
During his time as a Qlik Professor Ambassador Richard hopes to expand knowledge of data literacy across the University of Worcester and beyond, so that people can build up their skills no matter what subject they are studying. Richard recognises that data analysis is not just limited to the business world but is being used all the time in our day to day lives. “We’re in the world of Covid-19 and pandemics are modelled by data,” he said. “We’ve spent a year watching data slides and modelling and graphics. The medical and sporting worlds are driven by data and, in most fields you go into now, data literacy is crucial so in my opinion we need to be teaching data literacy to all of our students everywhere.”
We are so pleased to have Richard on board to help us achieve our vision of a data literate world, and we are looking forward to seeing how he supports other educators and students on their journey.