Data-Raid: Conestoga College Prepares Students for Careers in Data Analytics

Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a public college based in Kitchener, Ontario. Established in 1967, we are proud to deliver a full range of career-focused education, training, and applied research programs to 11,000 full-time students and 30,000 continuing education students. With more than 200 career-focused programs, Conestoga College is the region’s only provider of polytechnic education. We work closely with the ever-changing tech world. It is our responsibility as faculty and staff to prepare students with the latest technology in order to help them succeed.

It was through our partnership with Guelph General Hospital and Information Builders that we were able to prepare our students for scenarios beyond the classroom and equip them with the knowledge needed to analyze industry-level data and improve decision making.

Our students use WebFOCUS App Studio to apply concepts and skills learned in the classroom to real-world healthcare data during course projects. After applying course concepts with Information Builders’ tools in class, students applied their learning in the community by working with healthcare providers in our region. We focused our outreach on hospitals and community agencies such as Family Health Teams, Community Health Centers, and Community Care Access Centers. This focus resulted in three improvements:

• New efficiencies for the hospitals, improving the quality of life for employees and providing better care for patients
• The ability to better teach students skill sets they can use in their careers, while also training them to becomes liaisons between clinicians and IT professionals in a hospital
• The potential to impact other industries and domains when students who complete the course apply their knowledge to their chosen field

Information Builders helped us implement the latest analytics tools in order to prepare our next generation of data analytics professionals for real world usage and data discovery. Taking this step helped us ensure that we are preparing our students as best as possible to tackle the problems of the future.

We are committed to investing in education, to nurturing generations of students, and to furthering the potential of the data analytics community. Our students can implement the ideas they have developed and help improve the industries they decide to enter after graduation by using WebFOCUS.

With such a success, Contestoga College is pleased to participate in the Data-Raid blog series for Information Builders! Make sure to check back for further examples of companies doing “data-raids” to improve insights and outcomes, along with tips and best practices for utilizing comprehensive self-service BI and analytics solutions.

Read the full Conestoga College success story here.