HP Life @ BIONIC University: launch of joint program
On Saturday, August 10, at BIONIC University (BU) the first group of students started taking HP Life course in the framework of the Entrepreneurship program. The program was started thanks to joint efforts of BIONIC University and Нewlett-Рackard Company.
Every week during this two-month course the students will be getting a new assignment that they can do whenever it is convenient for them. And by the end of each week they will have a chance to discuss their assignments with experts in particular areas and get answers to their questions, as well as discuss how to implement their new knowledge and skills in Ukrainian business environment.
Altogether there were around 40 applicants for the HP Life program, while only 13 of them have passed all the selection stages. The main selection criterion was the “ripeness” of a business idea and comprehensive vision of its commercialization. The selected projects were both from B2B and B2C sectors, some of them being socially oriented. Among the students of the first group there are professional software developers as well as those with no experience in IT whatsoever. The HP Life course at BIONIC University will not only give them new knowledge and skills to put their ideas to life, but will also provide an opportunity to form a team of associates from graduates of other BU programs within Tech Skills and Soft Skills areas. By the end of the course, the graduates will have a chance to pitch their projects’ business plans to potentially interested investors.
“The key objective of BIONIC University is to expose IT specialists to cutting edge knowledge they need in order to grow professionally, and learn business skills,” – said Viktor Krivenko, director of “Technopolis” National Project. “Despite the fact that there are a lot of IT professionals in Ukraine these days, there are very few smart entrepreneurship initiatives in this sphere,” – he explained.
The HР Life program consists of 20 single modules that are grouped in four disciplines: “Finance”, “Marketing”, “Operational activities” and “Communication”. The format of studying, suggested by BIONIC University, combines intensive online self-study with a possibility to discuss cases with colleagues and address questions on each subject to profile experts in particular areas at the final seminar in a classroom.
Introducing the course, the consulting services sales manager of Hewlett-Packard Company Vladimir Krasnobrizhiy emphasized the importance of educational initiatives for Ukraine. “HP Life program has been incorporated as the best practices of the “Startup America Initiative” program, initiated by the Administration of the President of the United States. Launched in 2011 with the purpose of increasing the number of new companies with new jobs, the program remains relevant to our country. It is logically integrated with the goals and objectives of BIONIC University and BIONIC Hill,” - said the representative of HP Company. Vladimir explained that young people in Ukraine have a unique opportunity to access the world's online educational environment, which "contains a structured repository of knowledge and provides opportunities for collaboration and involvement of mentors willing to accompany the participant of the HP Life program”. As for practical advice on how to run businesses locally, BIONIC University will help by including meetings of students with professionals from the most successful Ukrainian and foreign companies into the curriculum.
When talking to the students Mr. Krasnobrizhiy drew their attention to the fact that for its part HP is ready to offer support to the future entrepreneurs at a stage of developing a complex business model for their IT solutions, namely when selecting optimal technologies and architectures for building scalable solutions, evaluating cloud technologies usage possibility and the cost of information security system building and many other things.
The first lecture for the group of Entrepreneurship program students was given by the President of the Kyiv School of Economics Pavlo Sheremeta on the specifics of managing business in Ukraine. Using living illustrations he showed the importance of marketing and innovations in creation of any product and also gave a lot of helpful tips on how to make a project innovative.
"You should start something new only if you want to make a revolution. Projects like BIONIC University can boost your development, but only if you are ready to become a revolutionary in your industry," - said Pavlo Sheremeta.
Though the HP Life program classes have already started, BIONIC University admission period continues for all those who are interested to apply to the program for the next course scheduled to start in October.
Last edit: 15.08.13