Riccardo Ocleppo, is the Founder & Director of the Open Institute of Technology. (OPIT). OPIT is a completely accredited Higher Education Institution under the European Qualification Framework (EQF) and the MFHEA Authority. OPIT can be recognized by WES (World Education Services), a trusted non-profit providing verified education credential assessments (ECA) within the U.S. and Canada for foreign degrees and certificates.

Before OPIT, Riccardo founded Docsity, a worldwide community with 15M registered university students and a consolidated partner of 250+ Universities and Business Schools worldwide. Riccardo holds an MSc in Electronics at Politecnico di Torino, an MSc in Management at London Business School.

In 2010, you launched Docsity, a platform that helps students excel of their studies by offering them the tools they need to organize for his or her exams. What were your key takeaways from this experience?

As a student in electronic engineering, at all times aspiring for one of the best grades, I never had enough study material to organize for my exams, especially when it comes to study notes, exercises and mock exams. My university – Politecnico di Torino – indeed provided many resources, but I still needed more. I felt this need was by some means shared with many other students in numerous fields of study, universities and geographies. From this easy insight, I created Docsity, a spot where university students can share and find useful academic content with one another and improve their preparation for exams. This experience led me to work with each students and universities, shaping my vision of the status and wishes of the upper education sector today.

How did this experience lead you to launching an accredited Higher Education Institution?

With Docsity, we proactively collaborate and partner with greater than 250 universities and academic institutions worldwide in plenty of areas. The entire higher education market is fascinating, with rather a lot happening and rather a lot to be done, mostly when it comes to innovating/modernizing the curricula of degrees, fully embracing online learning, and focusing rather a lot more on applications (and not only theory).

With the Open Institute of Technology (OPIT), we’re doing just that: modern, high-quality Degrees in tech fields at a really reasonably priced price.

Are you able to discuss how OPIT differentiates itself from other AI courses which might be offered?

Our Degrees at OPIT span different areas: Computer Science, AI, Data Science, Cybersecurity and Digital Business. AI is embedded in each Degree we provide from multiple angles. We teach aspiring Cybersecurity professionals how Generative AI is changing the world of cyber threats or how it may well be used to assist digital forensics. We teach digital business students the best way to embed AI within the products they aspire to create. We have now a technical AI program for aspiring programmers on this field where they go deep into all of the “AI verticals” (NLP, Computer Vision, AI for IoT and Automation), and so forth. One essential thing to underline is that wherever we speak about AI, we also embed the concepts of ethics, responsibility and human-centeredness.

OPIT offers a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Responsible Artificial Intelligence. Are you able to discuss why responsible AI needs to be on the forefront of AI education?

The is a technical program in AI that strongly embeds the concept of “responsibility”. Future AI tech professionals should be technically savvy and fully understand the societal implications of what they’ll code and create.

This system offers strong foundations in AI during term 1, covering areas like Machine Learning and advanced Python programming. Then goes deeper in Term 2, by specializing in “verticals” like NLP and Computer Vision and the appliance of AI in numerous contexts through hands-on projects. Term 3 is where students put their acquired knowledge to work through a Capstone project.

How does OPIT’s curriculum specifically address the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical skills in technology and AI, as mentioned by Professor Francesco Profumo?

Developing our degrees in order that they supply students with “applicative” and “hands-on” experience has been a key priority for us for the reason that very starting. First, we hired top academicians and professors who mix strong academic experience and a relevant skilled background. We’re very transparent about who our faculty is, and all our professors are listed on the web site and frequently updated. The skilled experience of our professors is our greatest guarantee that they’ll construct relevant, applicative case studies on top of the idea.

By hiring professors who’re well versed in technology and AI fields, they’ll higher teach students the sensible skills needed as they themselves have been in the sphere with this technology and have first-hand experience with it.

How does OPIT be certain that its degrees, accredited throughout the European Qualification Framework, are recognized and valued by employers globally, and specifically within the USA?

Our degrees have full legal value in Europe, and like for every other EU institution, I don’t see any obstacle to employers’ properly valuing a level from an accredited institution. We’re also working with certification bodies within the U.S. to expand and integrate this recognition from U.S. academic institutions.

You built OPIT using a top-down approach, how does this approach apply to constructing an education platform?

When constructing a brand new Higher Education Institution, it’s essential to ensure you will have all the important thing management onboard from day one. This rings true especially in case you construct something extremely modern and disruptive. I discovered this one of the best approach to ensure the alignment between the mission/strategy and its execution.

You might be actively, and heavily, involved within the recruiting of OPIT Faculty of Professors. What skills do you search for in a professor?

Our recruitment process is extremely selective and thorough. We mostly search for three things:

• Being a powerful academician: the best way to teach, and you’re keen on doing so
• Relevant skilled experience outside academia to be sure that you may not only teach theory but additionally the best way to use it in practice
• Strong interest in OPIT and alignment with our mission

There’s a powerful give attention to business in most of the courses which might be offered, why should entrepreneurs consider taking these courses?

Yes, even in technology Degrees, we like to present our students a broader view. The professionals of tomorrow might want to give you the option to attach the dots and adapt quickly. To accomplish that, they should broaden their horizons.

If students consider launching their very own startup, our degrees can be an ideal match to accumulate strong skills from multiple angles and connect with a vibrant community where they’ll likely give you the option to seek out their future co-founders.