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November 8, 2001 Concordia leads program on Net transactions

 

  

 


by Barbara Black

Concordia will direct an educational project on Internet-based transactions that is being financed by $194,000 from Human Resources Development Canada.

Professor Gregory Kersten, of the John Molson School of Business, will head the project, part of the Canada-European Community Program for Cooperation in Higher Education and Training.

The three-year project will provide virtual training to about 4,000 students from eight institutions. Four are Canadian universities — Concordia, Carleton, Laval and Ottawa — and four are in the European Community.These are the University of Vienna (Austria), the University of Thessaloniki (Greece), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden). Each of the eight institutions brings special expertise to the project. Concordia’s strength is an academic program that is strong in e-business systems and e-business management.

Each school will offer its own existing courses, but when applicable, these may be offered in another language (e.g. English). Some courses will also be upgraded to incorporate cross-cultural and international perspectives. Where possible, information technology (IT) will be part of the course delivery.

Along with the training, the Euro-Can project includes a practicum that will give 142 selected students the opportunity to work in a trans-Atlantic company. It is hoped that marketing the program to business communities in the host countries will contribute to the project’s sustainability by the end of its third year.

The benefits for students include the valuable opportunity of working and learning in a foreign environment, participating in virtual projects with students from other countries, and working on interdisciplinary assignments. Faculty involved in the project will also benefit from the cross-border interaction.

Professor Balbir Sahni, director of the Centre for International Academic Cooperation, added that Concordia will gain prestige and a higher international profile as a result of its leadership in this project.