In Novosibirsk State Technical University (NSTU-NETI) from 01.07.2019 to 07.07.2019 the International Summer School "Smart Cities: Today and Tomorrow" took place. This summer school was carried out in full compliance with project No 598317-EPP-1-2018-BG-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP “SMART CITY: An Innovative Approach to Developing a Master Program in Smart City Technologies from the ERASMUS Plus program.
The coordination meeting the discussed the most important issues of project implementation; problems of a methodological and organizational nature were submitted for general discussion. In particular, for the effective implementation of the project, one of the program partners was replaced in the consortium: the place of the University of Applied Sciences of Salzburg (Austria) was taken by the Technical University of Chemnitz (Germany).
The participants noted the excellent organization of the summer school prepared by the Faculty of Automation and Computer Engineering (the Automation department is responsible for the implementation of the Program at NSTU, the staff of other departments of the faculty also participate in this Program).
The development of a new master's program based on innovative approaches aims to provide students with opportunities to more effectively integrate into the global system of higher education, science, technology and technology. The bottom line is that for the usual period of study (for a master’s - two years) a student can master the programs of various universities, the second of which is a prestigious European university. This requires that these programs are related and "synchronized." Upon graduation, subject to successful protection of the final qualifying work, the student will receive diplomas from both universities.
Synchronization of educational programs can be two-way or one-way. In case of two-way synchronization, both universities try to bring together their educational programs, each of the partner universities makes changes and additions to the educational program implemented by them. This path is the easiest, although it also has its difficulties due to the fact that different educational standards are in place in different countries. In case of one-sided synchronization, only one university makes changes, in order for the educational program it implements to coincide with the educational program of another partner university, in this case European. In fact, the first university creates a new educational program. This is the path assumed by the Project.
It is also planned to write eighteen textbooks for teaching students on the joint educational programs being opened. In addition, NSTU will be responsible for creating a hybrid educational space. By the end of the current year, this post-office should be created, and in January the indicated eighteen textbooks will be loaded into it.
The speakers familiarized the students with the achievements of their universities in the field of implementing technologies of the city and the Internet of things. Representatives of universities from Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan told about the level of solving these issues in their universities and cities, highlighted the problems in the development of these areas. Speakers from European universities familiarized the students with the curricula implemented at their universities, shared their concerns about the possibilities of implementing the proposed double degree programs in the terms that are assumed under the Project. However, all difficulties can be overcome, which can already be said with complete confidence.
In the following years, two more summer schools will be held with the same participants, who will be accepted by partners in Kazakhstan and Mongolia. But summer schools are not an end in themselves, but a means for closer and effective communication between partners. The ultimate goal of the project, of course, is that the educational programs created subsequently live their lives. This means that, although under the terms of the project, six universities should send their students for pilot studies to European universities only once, the project assumes that this experience will subsequently develop for a long time. We wish good luck to the Project and its performers.