Dr Horacio Gonzalez -Vélez speaks with Sriya Reddy about cloud computing and data analytics as an emerging career option among Indian students
Tell us about Cloud Competency Centre (CCC) at National College of Ireland (NCI)IJ
CCC provides teaching, training and research in Cloud Computing field in collaboration with industry experts. Our facilities support complete evaluation, incubation and adoption of cloud technologies for research and learning purposes.
What all programmes are offered by CCCIJ
We provide MSc in cloud computing and higher diploma that imparts latest knowledge and competencies required in cloud computing. Student will get to experience the latest design principles, models, and technologies in cloud computing. This field has become a multi-billion euro industry and this course offers specialisations in two key areas—
Infrastructure aka IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
Development aka SaaS (Software as a Service).
We have also introduced MSc for data analytics and higher diploma. This course will train students in technical skills in the areas of statistics, programming, database management and web mining.
What are the necessary qualificationsIJ
A potential student is someone who is self motivated, hardworking and has the foundations for the masters programme. Bachelor in computer science for cloud computing is a must. For data analytics, a student must have graduated in statistics and done a bit of abstractions.
What is the student profileIJ
We have a significant number of international students but all my top students are Indians. They are extremely hard working and dedicated and have great analytical and abstraction skills. More than 60 per cent of students take up cloud computing.
What percentage of students does the school take in a yearIJ
For our bachelor courses we have about 5,000 students, whereas in PG, we have 350 to 400 students. Specifically for cloud computing, we’ve 30 to 34 students full time and about 22 of these are Indians.
Tell us about the cost and duration of the programmesIJ
The cost for the masters programme which is of one year duration is Rs 8.5 lakh. The higher diploma courses costs around Rs 6 lakh.
Do you offer scholarshipsIJ
We have a scholarship plan in place. But since the cloud computing course is in much demand we receive more than 110 applications in a semester. It is very difficult to cater to every request at that point. So, we have made it compulsory for the student to block his seat by paying Rs 80,000 approx. Once the entire procedure is complete we look at providing scholarships to meritorious students.