11/17/15 · Institutional

The UOC produces 5,200 graduates trained to meet the needs of the job market in the field of ICT

The EU claims that between now and 2020, some 900,000 ICT-related jobs will be created that will not be possible to fill due to a lack of training. As the Ametic technology employers' association has warned, professional profiles are being sought but are not being found. In this context, the UOC calls on the role of the university as an economic powerhouse, offering precisely the range of courses adapted to the real needs of the job market and training skilled professionals. This year, another 5,200 people will graduate from the UOC, trained to meet the needs of the job market in the field of information and communication technologies.
Educational Psychology and Business Administration and Management have the largest number of graduates.<br />Photo: David Campos/UOC

Educational Psychology and Business Administration and Management have the largest number of graduates.
Photo: David Campos/UOC

Community manager, e-administration specialist, data analyst (big data) and SEO expert are just some of the hundreds of new professions that have emerged with ICT. We will expand on a few of them.


Community managers (CM) and content curators

"In light of the demand for new professional opportunities in communication, I decided to study and train in new skills and abilities to take on the new employment challenges. Training at the UOC has enabled me to acquire new knowledge and refocus my professional career. After an intense but gratifying academic year, I have started working with small local companies that want to have a social media presence but do not have the budget to have a community manager on the workforce. My time at the UOC has afforded me a professional change in an emerging sector." These are the words of Sílvia Porta, graduate of the postgraduate course in de Social Media Content at the UOC.

One of the lecturers in charge of the postgraduate programme, Sandra Sanz, defines CM as an "online community manager, who adopts an intermediary position between the company and the consumers. A sort of digital mediator who transforms the company-consumer-company relationship by acting as an intermediary between the two."

Without leaving the field of Communication, we also find the content curator. "Professionals, either internal or external, especially involved with knowledge and who will advise on the most relevant information about the sector. A sort of critical knowledge intermediary, who is constantly looking for, selecting, characterizing and disseminating what is most relevant in their field of specialization," explains Sanz.


e-Administration specialist

ICT has also been instrumental in creating new jobs in the area of Law. Agustí Cerrillo, full professor in Administrative Law at the UOC, talks of one of them: "e-Administration creates the need for professionals with interdisciplinary training (technical, legal and organizational) who can provide a comprehensive response to the demands generated by the digital projects driven by public administrations. The aim is to disseminate information, channel citizen participation in the public administrations, facilitate the presence of the administrations on social media and manage administrative procedures using electronic means."

An example of this is Maria Dolores Badrena, e-administration specialist with the Masnou Town Council. She explains that it is a newly-created post, "since regulations are advancing in leaps and bounds to achieve an administration that is accessible to everyone 24/7." She attributes the merit in having secured this job to the training she had at the UOC: "The fact of having studied the pre-EHEA Bachelor's Degree in Law at the UOC has been decisive in my professional career with the Town Council because it's a position that, besides being highly technical, has a very important legal aspect. Therefore, I firmly believe that the training at the UOC has been key in my getting the post," concludes the recent graduate.


Big data managers

The use and management of the information of the business and its environment to improve decision making, so-called business intelligence, is the most current and growing field, both in business management and in information technology development. Organizations need to employ and develop professionals trained in this type of tool: data analysts, project leaders, technical solutions constructors and information, knowledge and competitive intelligence services providers.


Digital media specialist

The consumption of digital products does not stop growing. Society wants to consume interactive apps, with a responsive design, with no limitations in the multimedia content type and, above all, that are attractive and with high-level user experience.

Recent graduate of the University Master's Degree in Multimedia Applications María Fernández has been awarded a prize of 3,000 euros for My wee app, a mobile phone app using Android technology that she has developed to help parents in looking after their newborn babies. Fernández is developing the website for a multinational company.


New mHealth professionals

Advances in technology have also revolutionized clinical and care practice, "from prevention to diagnosis, through monitoring and management of illnesses," says Francesc Saigí, Director of the University Master's Degree in Telemedicine.

He calls for "multidisciplinary and joint collaboration between health professionals, scientists, doctors and engineers and computer science professionals." This interdisciplinary mastery makes it possible to create "the next generation of versatile professionals and researchers in tune with the language, methods, needs and challenges of each discipline."


Educational Psychology and Business Administration and Management have the largest number of graduates

Of the 5,200 UOC graduates from the 2014-15 academic year, almost 4,000 studied official degrees in Catalan, over 650 in Spanish and more than 630 completed one of the UOC-certified degrees.

The official bachelor's degrees in Catalan with the highest number of graduates are Business Administration and Management (312), Law (165), Psychology (160) and Social Education (104).

In terms of pre-EHEA bachelor's degrees and second-cycle degrees that no longer exist, the most successful is Educational Psychology (429), followed by Business Studies (230), Business Administration and Management (157), Law (138) and Advertising and Public Relations (118).

In terms of university master's degrees, the one with most graduates is Learning Difficulties and Language Disorders (196), followed by Health and Safety (99) and Education and ICT (94).

New graduates will be invited to the graduation ceremonies held by the UOC at the Auditori on Saturday the 14th in Barcelona and at the Teatros de Canal on 28 November in Madrid.

The 5,200 new graduates take the number of UOC Alumni to 58,094.

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