Qlik Academic Program

This week we would like to introduce Angelika Klidas, who happens to be a returning Educator Ambassador.  We are excited to select Angelika as an Ambassador for the 3rd year in a row due to her continued enthusiasm for Qlik’s Academic Program and her efforts in 2023.

Angelika’s journey with Qlik began in 2008 when she started out installing and managing a successful QlikView Competence Center as a team manager of the team for a Governmental Organization in the Netherlands. Since then, she has always been a huge Qlik Advocate in both her day job and her university teaching. Angelika works currently as an Advisor & Trainer and the Business Data Challengers and is responsible for the BDC Academy, sales and account management along with some innovative work! She also teaches Data and Analytics at the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam which is her part time role. She is a conceptual thinker who lives by the phrase “think big, act small, and scale fast” which she uses to inspire others to evolve in their use of data and analytics.

In 2022, Angelika began writing a book together with Qlik’s Chief Learning Officer Kevin Hanegan about Data Literacy. The book was formally launched on the 30^th of November 2022 and is called “Data Literacy in Practice”. The book is available through Amazon.com and Packt.com.

Angelika applied to become a Educator Ambassador with the Qlik Academic Program as she is passionate about educating students in data analytics and championing the cause of Data & AI Literacy. Due to the change in situation in the field of education, she included new aspects in her teaching style which include setting up training materials “how to use Qlik Sense from an analysis perspective so that students know and understand the full power of Qlik Sense,  using AHA Slides (to make the lectures more interactive) and the book “Data Literacy in Practice”. Her book is now also a mandatory book for the University. With the help of the techniques from the book and learning to work with Qlik Sense helps her students not only to analyze the data in a better manner but also how to help organizations form a data strategy, develop organizational KPI’s and build amazing dashboards & reports.

Angelika is proud of the fact that she is the Qlik Academic Program Ambassador and has included the Educator Ambassador badge, mentioned it on her resume and highlights it in her presentations! This year again she is presenting twice at Qlik Connect and is also a Panelist for around the topic ethical handling of data.

In Angelika’s words, “I love the power of grey, love the academic program and the great benefit that it gives to me and my students. My students can pursue their dreams when they would like to work in data and analytics .” She is excited about the fact that some of her students got a job in the data and analytics world, which is amazing! An interesting fact is that since 2008, 34% of her 295 students are working in the field of data and analytics. Her main goal for 2024 is to work on new training materials for Data & AI Literacy in Dutch and English. Angelika has developed several Generative AI trainings that help people (at school and in her commercial work field) to use the Gen AI tools, but also she trains them to question the outcome. Questioning the results, either from insights that we create or the results that we get from the Gen AI tools we use is mega important. Next to that Angelika has developed a “Serious Data Training” where she combines a the first basic concepts of Data & AI Literacy, a Data Escape Room and a session of reflecting on the soft skills that people need during the process of data informed decisions.

Angelika feels that more and more organizations are now emphasizing the importance of Data & AI Literacy. She loves to work with the four pillar system which should be the basis of every organizations journey towards “Active Intelligence” so they will be future ready!

In Angelika’s words, “I love the Qlik Academic Program, it helps the students in gaining analytics knowledge for my students. They can learn at their own pace and look for solutions through the learning platform, but also use the knowledge from the community and demos.qlik.com where they can find all kinds of cool solutions”

We are looking forward to working closely with Angelika during her tenure as an ambassador yet again and creating more links with Universities in the Netherlands.

For more information about our Ambassador Program, please visit: qlik.com/us/company/academic-program/ambassadors

Marcin is a Research Assistant at the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. His role focuses on integrating theory with practice in teaching and research in the subject areas of Economics, Management, Data Analysis and Data Science.

Marcin has been an enthusiastic advocate and educator of Qlik for several years, introducing students and colleagues to the dynamic world of data analytics through the Qlik Academic Program. His journey with Qlik began out of a desire to provide a more interactive and practical learning experience in the field of data visualization and analytics. Recognizing the increasing importance of data literacy in today’s digital landscape, Marcin was inspired to incorporate Qlik into his curriculum, leveraging the program’s comprehensive resources, including cloud-based analytical software, Qlik Sense, and an extensive library of educational materials. These tools have allowed him to transform traditional classroom settings into vibrant, hands-on learning environments where students can directly apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios.

Marcin has incorporated many different resources from the Qlik Academic Program into his teaching ,” I've used the Qlik Sense software to facilitate labs where students can learn to build their own dashboards. This experience has proved invaluable for their understanding of data structures and the principles of effective data visualization.  I incorporate the Data Analytics Curriculum provided by Qlik into my syllabus to give students a structured pathway through the complexities of data analysis. It helps them grasp the intricacies of data in the context of economic research.  For assessment, I lean on the Qlik Sense Qualifications, like the Business Analyst Pathway, to evaluate students' proficiency in utilizing Qlik tools for economic data analysis. This qualification process not only tests their technical skills but also their ability to interpret data and make data-driven decisions.  In addition to these, I encourage students to complete the Qlik Data Literacy Course training to ensure they possess a foundational understanding of data literacy, which is essential in today's data-centric world.”

Marcin's integration of Qlik into his curriculum has significantly empowered his students by providing them with firsthand exposure to the latest technologies in data analytics. Marcin says, “This exposure does more than just enhance their educational experience; it arms them with a competitive advantage in the job market and cultivates essential skills that are in high demand across industries. By familiarizing students with Qlik's cutting-edge tools, it not only prepares them for the challenges of the modern workforce but also ensures they stand out to potential employers, ready to contribute meaningfully from day one. The benefits for students extend beyond the classroom, setting a foundation for lifelong learning and success in a rapidly evolving professional landscape.”

Looking ahead to 2024, Marcin aims to further enrich his students' learning experiences by integrating new methodologies and focusing on the development of critical analytical skills that are increasingly in demand across various industries. He is keenly observant of the evolving landscape of analytics and the growing need for data literacy in higher education, recognizing the potential of analytics to transform not just business strategies but also educational paradigms.

Outside the classroom, Marcin enjoys a balanced life, residing in a community that shares his passion for education and innovation. Whether exploring new hobbies, spending time with his family, or engaging in other professional endeavors, he embodies the spirit of lifelong learning and curiosity.

As a Qlik Educator Ambassador, Marcin aspires to not only enhance his own teaching practices but also to contribute to the broader educational community by sharing his experiences and insights. He views this role as an opportunity to advocate for the importance of data literacy, support fellow educators in incorporating analytics into their curricula, and inspire a new generation of students to explore the vast potential of data analysis.

For more information about how you can get access to free Qlik Sense software and training resources, please go to qlik.com/academicprogram.

I am pleased to introduce Angel Monjaras as the Qlik Educator Ambassador for 2024! Angel is a Professor of Business Intelligence at Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo De Mexico (ITAM), where he’s been using Qlik in his teaching for seven years.  

For this year’s iteration of his course, he is debuting a BI Best Practices Catalog on Qlik Sense that will enable students to find the most common metrics and dimensions for each business area and / or industry.

According to Angel, “This will free up class time to delve into Data Literacy and AI topics that will help students feel comfortable speaking about data, and help them stay grounded and focus on real issues and solutions, instead of jumping on the many bandwagons, buzzwords, and false promises headed their way.”

While he’s always integrated Qlik software, the past couple of years, he started to integrate some of the learning exercises from the Qlik Academic Program, “Students perform various exercises and homework, including regression analysis, visualization best practices, common visualization pitfalls, and data quality. They also design a dashboard from scratch as part of a practical course-long BI project. We use some exercises taken from QCC and the Data Analytics Curriculum, since they provide good sample data.”

Angel’s passion for Qlik goes beyond his own classroom, he has been introducing new educators from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and other universities to Qlik. Angel has conducted introductory workshops for students. Angel plans to share his knowledge even further this year, by continuing to conduct open workshops for any student at his university to join.

Angel is a 2024 Qlik Luminary and will host a session in Qlik Connect this year: “C40: Taking our world-changing work to the next level with Qlik Cloud”

For Angel, one of the most rewarding parts of teaching Qlik has been seeing his students leave university and get jobs, become Qlik customers, and even fellow professors.

Educators and students can get access to free Qlik software and training resources, qualifications and certifications by applying to the Academic Program today: qlik.com/academicprogram 

Nassir first became an educator ambassador in 2022 when he was a Lecturer in Technology Innovation at Birmingham City university. This year Nassir has been promoted and is now a Senior Lecturer in Business Analytics.

When Nassir started teaching in The Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment (CEBE), they typically used R Studio, Rapid Miner, Excel, SQL and Python for teaching and assessment.” I worked as part of a team that relied heavily on R Studio and saw the challenges faced by students first-hand when completing basic statistical analysis. The challenge translated into a poor student learning experience and was also reflected in lower-quality work being produced by students.”

Nassir was then promoted to become Module Lead and decided to switch from R Studio to Qlik Sense for the Final Year Data Intelligence module (now Business Intelligence). “Qlik Sense has been an excellent tool for teaching and assessment and students have taken to it very well. Recently students have had the opportunity to complete lab exercises and refreshed assessments using both Power BI and Qlik to equip them with practical experience using industry-standard tools. Having an industry mentor who utilizes both Qlik and Power BI in a senior business analytics role has informed my assessment design, lab exercises and pedagogy. Academia and Industry are not mutually exclusive and a fundamental challenge is addressing a perceived dichotomy that incorporates the differing interests of students, employers and academics. What unites these different actors is solving real-life problems effectively, together. I am empowered to continue integrating these actors as a Qlik ambassador, to successfully address the challenges of the modern day using analytics.”

Since we last introduced Nassir he has created and led new modules​ in Business Intelligence, Database Systems Development and managed a large course-wide Programming module utilising empirical industry-based case studies. He strongly encourages his students to study the courses on the Qlik Academic Program and earn certifications, “I have supported students with gaining Qlik certifications and encouraged students to promote their certification and badges on their CV's and LinkedIn profiles. Students have secured graduate roles at national firms and SME's that utilise Qlik”.

All of his support for his students is clearly paying off, not only have his students been securing graduate roles but his passion for his subject has also been recognised across the University.  He has been shortlisted for the award of most inspiring lecturer in the Faculty for three consecutive years: 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Looking ahead to 2024 Nassir has a number of goals,” This year I’m supporting Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) associates, Masters students and final year bachelor project students on research projects. I aim to support students and colleagues to produce publishable outputs and to disseminate knowledge created at both academic and industry conferences.“

Nassir is acutely aware of how important his own knowledge and development is too, “Continuous professional development is crucial and belonging to a community such as the Qlik ambassador team keeps me sharp. I am an active researcher and strive to practically demonstrate the effectiveness of how business analytics techniques can address industry challenges.” This is part of why he chose to reapply as an educator ambassador for 2024, the exchange of knowledge and experiences with fellow educator ambassadors,” Sharing knowledge is very rewarding and building competence to solve different business problems is stimulating. Obtaining and implementing the good practice learnt and exchanged with peer Qlik ambassadors is very valuable for assessment design and refining the pedagogy of my teaching teams to nurture industry ready graduates and postgraduates.”

His motivation to become an educator ambassador for a third time came from his commitment to lifelong learning, “Lifelong learning is extremely important and no matter how qualified one becomes you realize how little you know. There is no better feeling than helping others become better skilled and this requires self-investment. By becoming a Qlik Educator Ambassador, I am in a stronger position to help others develop their technical skillset and be part of an exciting community.”

We are thrilled to have Nassir back as an Educator Ambassador, if you want to learn more about how you can get access to Free Qlik software and learning resources to use in your teaching, go to qlik.com/academicprogram to learn more.

Dr. K. Kalaiselvi oversees courses in Data Analytics, specializing in Machine Learning, R and Python Programming, Data Visualization Technologies, and Process Mining Technologies at Kristu Jayanti College. She also manages specialized and certification courses for students, complementing the regular curriculum.

Since 2019,  Dr. K Kalaiselvi has been associated with the Qlik Academic Program and has also earned the Qlik Sense Business Analyst Qualification. By December 2023, approximately 300 students from Kristu Jayanti College achieved their qualifications in Qlik Sense Business Analyst and Data Literacy. Presently, 122 students are training for the Data Architect qualification. She says, “I’m thrilled that our institution was recognized as the Centre of Excellence in 2023, under the Qlik Academic Program”

According to Dr. K Kalaiselvi, she was drawn by the reputation of Qlik for providing comprehensive resources and tools geared towards learning data analytics and visualization. She therefore, decided to take further interest in the Qlik Academic Program. Kristu Jayanti recognizes the growing importance of new age skills in various industries, and this led to her interest in exploring further. The Qlik Academic Program stood out due to its commitment in offering free access to their powerful data analytics and visualization software, Qlik Sense along with free training and certifications.

Dr K Kalaiselvi believes that Qlik Academic Program's resources and learning materials will not only enhance understanding of data analytics and visualization but also contribute significantly to her students’ academic and professional growth. The opportunity to gain proficiency in using Qlik technologies is one that she finds both exciting and valuable, and she is enthusiastic about the potential it holds for her students’ future endeavors.

“The future of this engagement appears promising for me”, according to Dr. K Kalaiselvi. She further adds, “As students continue to benefit from Qlik Academic Program's training and certifications, they are likely to graduate with desirable skills in data analytics and visualization. This, in turn, could lead to increased job placements in roles such as Business Analysts, Data Scientists, and Data Visualization Designers. With a growing network and a reputation for producing skilled professionals, the engagement could contribute positively to both student careers and industry advancement”

Dr Kalaiselvi feels that her engagement with Qlik, especially after achieving the Qlik Sense Business Analyst certification, has deepened her understanding and appreciation for data literacy.  She recognizes the critical role it plays in today's data-driven world, and she is eager to share this knowledge with others. Joining the academic program has offered her a structured platform to advocate for and elevate data literacy among students, preparing them for a future where data-informed decision-making is key. By becoming a Qlik Educator Ambassador, she aims to not only expand her own skills and understanding of Qlik technologies but also to stay at the forefront of BI and analytics innovations. It enables her to contribute to and learn from a like-minded community, further enriching the educational experiences she can offer and to foster a collaborative spirit among her students for global and cross-disciplinary projects.

At present, Dr. K Kalaiselvi is engaged in developing an AI chatbot project tailored for adolescents, aimed at addressing their psychological, physical, and academic inquiries. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she has embarked on collaborative ventures with universities across Asia Pacific, concentrating on facilitating exchange programs and fostering project collaborations.

She feels thrilled and grateful to be involved in this collaboration with the Qlik Academic Program, as it allows her to learn and grow alongside her students.

We wish Dr. K Kalaiselvi all the best during her role as the Educator Ambassador! 

Educators and students can get access to free Qlik software and training resources, qualifications and certifications by applying to the Academic Program today: qlik.com/academicprogram

 Priscila started using Qlik for her work in 2013, and in 2016 she began teaching at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais in Brazil, on the Post Graduation courses, “I decided to use Qlik as the platform to help the students to understand in a practical way how to model data warehouses using the concepts of the star schema. Qlik is used showing the star schemas and how this kind of data model can be transformed in a dashboard full of information to potentially take better and faster decisions.”

Priscillas course is all about data warehouse modelling, when she started teaching, she thought, “it's not very interesting to create a conceptual model without understanding in a practical way how it will be used in the future." I understood that to show the conceptual model, [if I] show data about that model and use the data visually, the students could understand more about how to build good data products and try to use it in their day by day business.” Priscila knew from her professional life that Qlik could do this very simply, so she chose it as the tool for her course.

Pricilla started by using Qlikview with her students then in 2018 she moved onto Qlik Sense Cloud and began to incorporate data literacy concepts too, “In 2018 I started studying about the concepts of Data Literacy, and when I discovered that Qlik had this program too, some of the classes were built to show the students that they can count on this program to know more about how to deal with data in a better way.”

With the inclusion of the Academic Program in her teaching, Priscila has seen her students achieve great professional success, “As I am a leader in the companies I have been working for since 2017, I already hired 3 of my post-graduation students after they finished the courses. But I believe that many of my other students have been hired because of the competences they acquire during this post graduation.”

In 2024 Priscila hopes to spread Data Literacy further, using more the materials Qlik makes available. “I plan to give more examples using Qlik Sense Cloud, using the concepts of AUTO ML to give more robustness to the knowledge students of 2024 need to make a difference in their careers, as we are in the AI Era.”

“I believe we will face many changes in 2, 3 years in data industry. With the spread of AI practices, both traditional AI and Generative AI, every employee, in business areas or technology areas must understand how data can help to do more with less, to get some operational efficiency through the use of data and how to help to increase revenue and shrink the costs.”

When Priscila isn’t teaching, she’s busy managing an analytics team at a large company in Brazil. Outside of work and teaching she can be found travelling, visiting the beach and enjoying nature with her husband, daughter and stepson. As well as visiting the cinema and enjoying dinners out together.

During her year as Educator Ambassador, she hopes to make new friends and understand how her fellow educator ambassadors are using Qlik in their universities as well as have the opportunity to present about the program and her teaching. Priscila hopes to learn even more about Qlik and how can be used to better educate students on data analytics.

Educators and students can get access to free Qlik software and training resources, qualifications and certifications by applying to the Academic Program today: qlik.com/academicprogram 

Blerim has been teaching since 2007, he is a Senior Lecturer at Lund University in Sweden teaching Decision Support Systems for BSc, as well as two MSc courses; Business Intelligence and Business and Artificial Intelligence. Throughout his time as an Educator Ambassador Blerim has done a lot to promote the program within his university, he has introduced many faculty members to Qlik which is now being used within the highly popular course MSc Data Analytics and Business Economics.

When talking about his courses Blerim says, “A distinctive feature of all these courses is that they help in addressing the need to educate a data and AI-literate generation (required by the business and public sector) by being grounded in solid theoretical foundations, addressing real-world projects and using practitioner-oriented tools.” This is one of the reasons why Blerim collaborates so closely with industry, students studying on his courses can expect to gain both theoretical knowledge and hands on experience with tools such as Qlik, “We use the Qlik software and online training on Qlik products, up-to-date demos, Qlik customer stories, and applicable self-paced courses. The latter allows me for a flipped classroom or blended learning format, which [was] immensely useful during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Blerim found the Academic Program resources especially useful once he started teaching a blend of online and in person classes, and they helped him in moving towards a more modern way of teaching “Blended teaching and learning with flipped classroom methods should be here to stay. Students do not only learn in a classroom…Qlik provides us educators and students various resources for free, as well as short module-based courses. I could not have done the same here alone or even with a help of a colleague. We can be really cutting edge by embracing these new initiatives and connecting different elements in our courses in a form of guest lectures or industry-led ’learnathons’, not just by relying on textbooks of 20 years ago”.

One of the reasons Blerim does this is his belief that jobs and education go hand in hand: “Many of my students immediately or even before graduating are taking on roles in industry as BI analysts, developers etc. In particular, I'm very proud that many of the expat female course participants quickly get employed”.

When asked about the future of analytics and education Blerim believes that that future is in “Cloud-based and self-service platforms, such as Qlik sense Business, so that access to advanced analytics across organizations is democratized, this has dramatically increased the need for data literacy of students within higher education”.

Educators and students can get access to free Qlik software and training resources, qualifications and certifications by applying to the Academic Program today: qlik.com/academicprogram 

Analytical thinking and big data are set to be the most in demand job skills by 2027. Get your students ready for this data driven workplace with free software, training and qualifications from the Qlik Academic Program. This webinar will give you an overview of Qlik, a demo of our market leading software Qlik Sense and information about the Qlik Academic Program. This webinar is exclusively for Polish university educators and will be led by Qlik experts and educators, Marcin Stawarz and Jacek Harazin.

Marcin Stawarz

A certified Qlik Sense expert with profound experience in data analysis and machine learning. Specializes in Business Intelligence and the application of machine learning in finance. Works as an academic teacher at the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, focusing on integrating theory with practice in teaching and research.

Jacek Harazin

Data enthusiast, certified Qlik expert with experience in Business Intelligence, AI, and ML. Graduated from the University of Economics in Katowice, executed numerous BI projects. IT conference speaker, active at WSB Merito. Shares knowledge on: qlikblog.pl.

This webinar will be held on two dates:

Wednesday April 3 2024 at 11:00 CET - REGISTER HERE

Thursday April 4 2024 at 17:00 CET - REGISTER HERE

Webinarium programu akademickiego dla Polski

Myślenie analityczne i umiejętność pracy z dużymi zbiorami danych mają stać się najbardziej pożądanymi umiejętnościami na rynku pracy do roku 2027. Przygotuj swoich studentów na rzeczywistość opartą na danych, korzystając z darmowego oprogramowania, szkoleń i kwalifikacji oferowanych w ramach "The Qlik Academic Program". Zapraszamy na webinar, który zapewni Państwu przegląd możliwości Qlik, demonstrację naszego wiodącego na rynku oprogramowania Qlik Sense oraz informacje o programie akademickim Qlik. Webinar jest przeznaczony wyłącznie dla wykładowców oraz koordynatorów kierunków polskich szkół wyższych. Będzie prowadzony przez ekspertów i edukatorów Qlik: Marcin Stawarz i Jacek Harazin.

Marcin Stawarz

Certyfikowany ekspert Qlik Sense, z dużym doświadczeniem w analizie danych i uczeniu maszynowym. Specjalizacja w Business Intelligence i zastosowaniach uczenia maszynowego w finansach. Pracuje na stanowisku nauczyciela akademickiego na Wydziale Nauk Ekonomicznych i Zarządzania Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, gdzie skupia się na łączeniu teorii z praktyką w nauczaniu i badaniach.

Jacek Harazin

Pasjonat danych, certyfikowany ekspert Qlik z doświadczeniem w Business Intelligence, AI i ML. Absolwent UE w Katowicach, zrealizował liczne projekty BI. Prelegent IT, aktywny na WSB Merito, prowadzi qlikblog.pl.

Webinarium odbędzie się w dwóch terminach:

Środa 3 kwietnia 2024 r. o godz. 11:00 CET - ZAREJESTRUJ SIĘ TUTAJ

Czwartek 4 kwietnia 2024 r. o godz 17:00 CET - ZAREJESTRUJ SIĘ TUTAJ

To learn more about our Qlik Academic Program, go to qlik.com/academicprogram

Jacek first encountered Qlik in October of 2014, when he participated in a Qlikview workshop held by a Qlik partner for those interested in learning more about the product. At this point Jacek had 5 years experience in implementing analytical systems and controlling, but he was ready for a new career path. Through this workshop he started to understand the opportunities of working with Qlik, and by January 2015 he joined the Qlik partner company as a Qlik consultant. During this time he began to document his journey in an online blog (https://qlikblog.pl), all while earning Qlik certifications and reading through a 900 page Qlik view guide to solidify his knowledge, not once but twice! He soon started to train others before going on to teach at universities.

Jacek became more involved with Qlik and in 2017 his team won the first Qlik Hackathon in Poland by developing an app that monitored air pollution data and correlated it with tuberculosis incidence rates. This app then sent SMS alerts when pollution levels had exceeded safe limits. “I then got involved in organizing Qlik meetups in my region and speaking at conferences. I worked on various projects for automotive, construction, and pharmaceutical companies. I was continually uncovering the potential of the Qlik systems and I felt like I was learning something new every day”.

Jacek discovered the Qlik Academic Program in 2021 when the WSB University in Poznan invited him to join as a lecturer in Big Data and Engineering. “I discovered the Qlik Academic Program which offers free licenses and full access to educational materials to students. Within weeks I gained access and began my teaching adventure that still continues to this day”. He also extended his teaching responsibilities to other WSB Universities in Wrocław, Warsaw and Toruń, and even to the University of Warsaw and Łódź University of Technology. “Students are impressed by the capabilities of Qlik, often choosing it for their year end projects.”

While teaching Jacek has collaborated with Sii Poland to organize a contest among students for the most interesting Qlik project, with the prize being a paid internship at the company. Jacek says, “The winning student analyzed satellites orbiting Earth, using API sources, cleaning data, and creating a cohesive model with an Earth visualization. Students who work often talk about it in their companies, further showing Qlik's capabilities. This word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable.”

As well as teaching, Jacek also has a career at Merck Group as an analyst leading a team that supports Qlik analytics across 30 countries, with projects migrating to Qlik Cloud and utilizing AI technologies like the Insight Advisor, GPT API, chatbots, and converting analytics to audio format. A proud moment in Jacks career was in February 2023, “I became the first in the world to publish documentation on integrating a BI system with the GPT API engine, paving the way for further development and exploration of enhancing analytics with AI. I truly believe that today's educational programs must include these topics, as Qlik has great potential to implement them across various industries.” You can read Jacek's article on Qlik & OpenAI API here. 

Jacek's goals for 2024 are to expand the list of universities participating in the Academic Program and encourage other developers to share their knowledge and practice. Outside of the classroom Jacek is awaiting the arrival of his third child along with “the joy and challenge of being father to two sons”. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring the nature of Poland, especially the mountains, and he actively promote mountain tourism and family hiking through a dedicated association.

We are pleased to have Jacek join our class of 2024 Academic Program Educator Ambassadors, to meet our other ambassadors go to qlik.com/academic-program/ambassadors and to learn more about our program visit qlik.com/academicprogram

Over the past few weeks we have run a number of sessions for our Educators in Europe. At the end of September we went to the University of Lund in Sweden to deliver a day of hands-on workshops to students studying Supply Chain Information Systems. The session was delivered in person by our Senior Software engineer - Stavros Orfanoudakis. This is a course that the Academic Program has run online workshops for before, so it was great to get back to presenting in person. The students took to Qlik Sense like pros and went far beyond the workshop guide by building additional visualizations and charts.

Our next trip was in Italy to the Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, where our Senior Presales Solution Architect – Lucia Grassi – delivered a workshop student at the Department of Management studying Business Economics and Management. The feedback was very positive from the students, and we hope to return for another session here in the future.

Last Friday Stavros Orfanoudakis returned to the University of Lund for a Qlik app demo session. This was a class for an educator who had heard great things about our previous workshops at Lund and was eager to have us speak to his students at the Department of Economics. The students enjoyed the session so much that it was extended by 30 minutes, and they were particularly interested in all the free training accessible to them through the Qlik Continuous Classroom.

We love having the opportunity to present Qlik and our Academic Program to students, and we are happy to run sessions, if and when our schedule allows, for members of our Academic Program.  To learn more about joining the Academic Program, go to qlik.com/academicprogram 

I feel pleased to introduce our new Educator Ambassador for 2024, Sumitra Pundlik from Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Engineering, in the western Indian city of Pune.  Sumitra has been an Educator since the last 15 years and is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Engineering.

Sumitra teaches various subjects related to Data Analytics such as DBMS, Advanced DBMS, Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics. She has also taught R and Python Programming including different Business Intelligence and Data Analytics technologies including Qlik Sense. 

Sumitra has been a member of the Qlik Academic Program since the last three years and has also successfully earned the Qlik Sense Business Analyst Qualification.  After earning this qualification, she supported the learning journey of more than 400 students of different academic institutes like NMIMS,Hyderabad, VJIT Hyderabad,MIT ADT University and encouraged them to pursue Qlik Sense Business Analyst Qualifications.

According to her, “The Qlik Academic Program provides a great opportunity for students to access many online resources and different qualifications and certifications including Data Literacy, Qlik Sense Business Analyst and Qlik Sense Data Architect. The interactive material of the academic program helps students to excel in the field of data analytics”.

Further she adds, “I have been spreading awareness about the Qlik Academic Program and its benefits to other engineering colleges by conducting expert sessions via social media platforms”

Sumitra says, “Moving ahead, we are keen for internship and job opportunities for our students who have a good understanding of Qlik Sense and have earned the academic program qualifications.”

In Sumitra’s words, “Data literacy is my interest and I want to educate every data science enthusiast about the importance of data literacy.”

She feels it’s her mission to create more awareness about data analytics and encourage use of Qlik Sense. Data is the new fuel, and it is driving the current industry, she further adds.

When Sumitra is not teaching, she likes spending time with her son, Viraj. She is focusing on upskilling herself in recent trends, also taking care of her health and following a workout routine. 

We are looking forward to working closely with Sumitra during her tenure as an ambassador and creating more links with Universities in Pune and rest of India.

The Qlik Learning team have released a brand new qualification for you to demonstrate your Data Literacy skills. The new Data Literacy Qualification is a non-technical, product-agnostic exam, measuring an individual’s fundamental-level and applied understanding of skills and abilities to read, work with, analyze and communicate with data. 

This exam is different to the pre-existing Data Literacy Certification. The Data Literacy Certification assesses mastery level competencies, it is more advanced and requires background and skills within data and analytics.  The new Data Literacy Qualification does not require any background and can be taken by anyone. There are some suggested pre-requisites, but it is an exam that is much more accessible to those starting their journey in data and analytics. 

The Data Literacy Qualification exam is a timed exam for which you have 1 hour to answer 30 multiple choice questions. If you would like more information on the exam topics covered and information on preparation resources, please go here.

To get started with the exam, visit the Qlik Learning Portal, then choose Assessments from the top navigation→ Qualifications → Data Literacy.

Once you have passed the exam you will receive a digital badge via Credly that you can share on you social channels to show off your skills! To access this exam, and an amazing range of both product-focused and product-agnostic learning resources, sign up to our Academic Program at qlik.com/academicprogram. 

These individuals are some of our most active participants of the Qlik Academic Program who fully utilise the free software, training resources and qualifications that we provide to university students and educators. The members of our 2024 class are:  

Dr Nassir Ibrahim

Marcin Stawarz

Blerim Emruli

Javier Leon, Adjunct Professor

Sumitra Purushottam Pundlik

Priscila de Jesus Papazissis Paolinelli

Jacek Harazin

Angelika Klidas

Dr K Kalaiselvi

Angel R Monjarás

Daniel E. O'Leary

Meet the Qlik Academic Program Professor Ambassadors for 2024 

We are thrilled to be recognizing the efforts of these individuals to help the Qlik Academic Program to achieve its mission - to create a data literate world, one student at a time. Each ambassador has been selected through a self-nominated application process, where they were required to answer various questions covering their motivations for becoming an ambassador, and to evidence their passion for upskilling their students in analytics over the past 12 months.  This year, we are excited to select another 11 ambassadors, 5 new ones and 6 returning ambassadors whose efforts continued to impress us. By way of thanks for their efforts our ambassadors will receive exclusive benefits such as webinars and discussion groups with Qlik leaders, opportunities to showcase their experience with the Qlik Academic Program and the chance to grow their network with other educators across various fields and geographies.  

Throughout 2024 our ambassadors will continue their advocacy for the Qlik Academic Program and help us to reach even more students and educators with our free resources. Stay tuned over the coming months for more in-depth profiles on each of our ambassadors, and get to know who they are, what they teach and why they are so passionate about bridging the data literacy skills gap! Learn more about the program and how to apply for future classes.  

The report forecasts that between now and 2027, businesses predict that 44% of workers’ core skills will be disrupted, because technology is moving faster than companies can design and scale up their training programs. Our Academic Program gives the students of today a chance to get to grips with our industry leading took Qlik Sense, so that they arrive in the workplace a step ahead of the rest and ready to thrive. By using the program to supplement their university courses, they can arrive with the skills needed in the modern-day workplace and save the time and cost of upskilling later.  Students can train on the learning resources built by us and used by customers and partners to get themselves workplace ready.

When the World Economic Forum ran this survey in 2023, they created a list of the top 10 skills deemed to be the most important at the time of survey. These are a mix of cognitive skills, self-efficacy, management skills, technology skills and working with others. Number six on the list was technological literacy, however when they looked at skills on the rise in the next five years, technological literacy moved up to number three. This skill is the third fastest growing core skill, and it refers to the knowledge and ability required to effectively and responsibly use technology tools and resources. Many individuals at university are already learning to acquire and communicate information in a fully digital environment. But they will need to transfer these skills to a professional workplace and be expected to interpret this information into insights to inform business decisions. Most business are now using data solutions in order to support this process; students will need to go into the workplace with an understanding of how this technology works.

In addition to the need for candidates with technological literacy, the future workplace needs workers who are also skilled in AI and big data. Ranked number seventh for fastest growing skill, AI and big data will see a 60% growth in demand by 2027. As part of the Qlik academic program, members can start to train on Qlik Sense, our market leading tool for data analytics. By following some of the short training videos and learning about basic functionality, students can go into the workplace with an understanding of the benefits of data solutions and show their employers they have taken the initiative to upskill themselves in big data.

The Qlik academic program offers a fantastic opportunity for students to start their professional learning journey in data and technology and leave university in the next few years with the skills needed in the workplace. Our courses on data literacy support the hard and soft skills needed in the future workplace. Even if you are student pursuing a course outside of IT, taking a couple of free courses in data visualizations and data literacy could help you become more employable after university. If you’re unsure of where to start with your 2024 learning journey, then the best thing to do is to take our data literacy persona assessment, and then explore some of the courses that interest you.  To start accessing these courses go to, qlik.com/academicprogram and apply to our free program.

The Academic Program hosted a Qlik Sense workshop for students at Macquarie University in Australia!  The University joined the program in 2016 when Professor Dominic Soh introduced Qlik Sense to his undergraduate students in an Auditing and Assurance Services course. Since the university joined, there have been more than 300+ students accepted into the program, all who have received free software and training for a full year!

Professor Soh uses Qlik Sense to teach data analytics, specifically within the accounting/auditing context.  He utilizes the programs free resources which have helped him train his students and build his curriculum.   In the course, students are assigned to watch 5 QCC videos and take 5 quizzes each week, and are also required to use Qlik in their final assignment.

The free resources combined with the workshops that the program provides have proven to be really valuable to the professor and the students at Macquarie University!

Happy New Year from the Qlik Academic Program! Throughout 2023 we continued to support our educators and students around the globe with our amazing free software and resources. We supported universities with guest lectures about the importance of analytics, as well as hands on workshops in which students build their first Qlik Sense application.  We continued to host global webinars to spread the word about our resources and we worked closely with our wonderful 2023 Educator Ambassadors to learn about how they use our program in their teaching. 

Here is some of the feedback we received during 2023:

Thrive in the educational odyssey with Qlik's Academic Program! A dual triumph for educators and students alike, this program is a crucible where analytical prowess is forged, giving a formidable edge in the competitive job market. - Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń

Easy to use with good explanations - UC Leuven-Limburg

Qlik Academic Program meets my professional needs, gives our students free Qlik software and resources to become the next generation of data experts - The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

very important and valuable for students learning how to digitalize processes - Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin

I have been using Qlik products in my classes for over 20 years, and they have always been well received and useful as a complement to processes and analytics. - University of Vigo-Centro Universitário de la Defensa Marin

Qlik AP helped me a lot in finishing my Thesis. Thank you for that! - Technische Universität Dortmund

if you'd like to learn more about our program, please go to qlik.com/academicprogram

Queen Mary University London is a Russel Group university that is ranked 16th in the UK. At the end of November we were invited to lead a Qlik Sense workshop with Masters students studying Marketing & Digital Analytics. The aim of the course is to give students an insight into marketing and its relationship with the online data economy. The students who enroll on this course come from various different disciplines, some are already working and others are completing studies in areas such as marketing and communication. This workshop was led by Scott Wilkinson, Partner Enablement Manager and supported by Technical Trainer Piter Harb. 

We had around 70 students attend the session and since we had already delivered an introductory lecture a couple of weeks previously, we could use the full time for the workshop. One of the first elements we always introduce to the students is the Insight Adviser. This demonstrates to students how they can use natural language to ask questions of their data and generate answers and visualizations. They can then add these generated visualizations to a sheet in Qlik Sense to start creating their dashboard. Once they have added all the necessary visualizations to their sheet, we introduce them to how they can use the storytelling functionality in Qlik Sense.

Once we covered the Insight Adviser we guided students through loading their own data into Qlik Sense and building visualizations from scratch. At this point we also cover the data manager so that the students can understand how to create and edit associations between tables. We then introduced the concepts of dimensions and measures and encouraged students to create their own.  The students achieved a lot during the 1 and 45 minutes that we had with them, with many asking about how they could continue their learning after the session.

To learn more about the Qlik Academic Program, visit out website: Qlik.com/academicprogram

In today's tough job market, landing the job you want is a challenge. Many have the same degree and some may have better scores. How can you stand you? Is there a way you can enhance your career prospects by doing something more than others?

In the competitive job market, standing out requires more than  just a degree.  Some cutting edge courses for upskilling for engineers  to enhance their careers includes data science. To read more on this, visit:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/102936706.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

In order to enhance your data analytics skills, if you are a student or educator,  for free training and certifications, visit: qlik.com/academicprogram  

This month I had the pleasure of returning back to Pennsylvania State University in person!  Joined by my colleague Chris Reiter, we conducted a technical talk which consisted of a Qlik Sense workshop and presentation about the Academic Program. Students attended both in person and virtually, from all over the globe.  The Penn State Great Valley campus is a special campus for graduate students and those who have a particular interest in analytics.  In the past several years, its been our pleasure to create a partnership in which Qlik can provide students with the opportunity to learn Qlik Sense and build their data literacy skill sets.

If you are interested in the Qlik Academic Program, visit us and apply qlik.com/academicprogram today for software, training, certificate opportunities', and more, all at NO COST!

Last Thursday we ran a session for students studying Digital Marketing at the University of Sheffield. We had around 80 students using Qlik Sense and building their first application. The session was lead by Qlik Technical Trainer - Wolfgang Kellner with support from Curriculum Developer - Sara Del Pino.  This is a session we run with the students every year and we had some great feedback and interesting follow up questions, both about software functionality and the future of analytics and AI.

On Friday I spoke to a class taught by one of our Educator Ambassadors, Nassir Ibrahim, at Birmingham City University. These students are Final Year BSc Business Information Technology students, and during their course they must complete an assignment within Qlik Sense to solve a real world business problem. Students on this course always excel at engaging with Qlik and building amazing applications, we have even had one of Nassirs's students present on an EMEA webinar earlier on this year.

This week we kicked off the first of two sessions for Birmingham City University's  Grad+ programme. Graduate+ is an award framework designed to give students the opportunity to gain additional skills outside of their courses to help them secure employment after university. This is a partnership that launched in 2019 and is still going strong today. Students can earn 3 different award levels based on various courses they can take as part of the Qlik Academic Program. Every year we present Qlik and the Academic Program to students eager to learn how to differentiate themselves and upskill.

In the coming weeks we have even more sessions, if you're interested in having us speak to your students get in touch! and if you'd like more information about the Qlik Academic Programme, visit out website: Qlik.com/academicprogram