Just in time for the new school year, Dataiku’s latest academic partnership with Teradata University Network (TUN) is set to bring AI tools and skills to the classroom. The program empowers colleges and universities to unlock the full potential of AI by providing Dataiku software and data science resources to faculty and students.
For a deeper look at how TUN is prepping the next generation for the AI-enabled workplace of the future, I sat down with Josh Hewitt, Director of Academics at Dataiku, and Diane Igoche, Curriculum Development Specialist at Dataiku.
What exactly is TUN?
Josh Hewitt (JH): TUN is the academic arm of Teradata, who is one of our partners. They’ve been in existence since 2002, and they virtually host faculty and students all across the world, providing them access to advanced analytics platforms, software, and curriculum.
That’s the biggest piece - they openly provide faculty with curriculum to use as they’re creating courses and content for their students. It’s a shared resource, so everyone can get on board and share these things. From our standpoint, it’s a great way for us to reach out to and work directly with college campuses to inspire the next generation of data professionals.
What types of schools are in the program?
JH: TUN is made up of an incredibly diverse group of colleges and universities - 2 year schools, 4 year schools, and more, both here in the United States and abroad.
Why is TUN an important tool?
Diane Igoche (DI): One of the beautiful things about Dataiku is that the platform is collaborative. A lot of the research and education around AI right now is about inclusivity and wanting to promote collaboration not just within data departments, but on a global scale among everyone using data.
So using programs like TUN and having Dataiku participate helps faculty tremendously with their professional development. Both faculty and students can take advantage of a very in-demand tool that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
JH: For me, it goes beyond Dataiku’s partnership - TUN is this whole concept of being open and working freely. That’s something we both fundamentally believe in. We‘re never saying that it’s only Dataiku or all about Dataiku - there are lots of technologies out there for lots of use cases. Instead, its about openness and reaching faculty and students where they are.
Why is Dataiku a good fit in the classroom?
DI: Data science and machine learning by themselves can be very intimidating. What Dataiku does is really meet the learner where (s)he is, whether that means learning how to do data science from scratch without coding or learning to code a data pipeline.
Dataiku by itself is really important in this new stage and new phase of learning where it’s important for everyone to be data literate. Not just in academics, but out in the real word when students are looking for jobs at the AI-driven companies of tomorrow. As an educator, I think that’s important, and I know that concept is important to faculty members and students as well.
Diane Igoche - Curriculum Development Specialist
Diane has over nine years teaching and instructional design experience serving higher education Institutions in the United States, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia. She received a Masters in Information Systems and a PhD in Instructional Technology. She has also designed data science degree programs and courses at the Master's and Doctoral levels.
Josh Hewitt - Director of Academics
Josh directs the academic programs and initiatives for Dataiku. For over a decade, Josh has been committed to building relationships with faculty and assisting students on their learning journey. Josh holds a Bachelor's degree in public policy from the University at Albany and a Master's in public administration and education policy from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy.