Ferran Sabate

Professional and Interpersonal Skills for ICT Specialists

The main objective of this paper is to define and evaluate the professional abilities of an engineer who works as an IT professional in Spain, primarily telecommunications engineers and computer scientists. Their occupational profiles will provide us with a useful tool for defining and conceptualizing curriculum plans for new qualifications, which the EU Higher Education Area project will require in 2010. European universities, institutes of higher education, and learning centers are currently drawing up such proposals. This article presents a first attempt at defining the professional characteristics-in terms of competence and aptitude-that an IT professional should possess. It focuses more on interpersonal skills and abilities than to knowledge and technical expertise.

Balancing basic and applied research outputs: a study of the trade-offs between publishing and patenting

This study examines the relationship between academic publications and patents. First, we use regression models to investigate those factors that act as potential drivers when considering papers and patents individually. Second, we run a cluster analysis in order to test whether universities follow different patterns in the way they align their resources in regard to research objectives. The empirical application considers the Spanish public higher education system for the period 2006–2010. The overarching conclusion is that cross-fertilisation relationships between academic research and its commercialisation are found. There are, however, important differences in how universities are disseminating research results, particularly when we analyse the resources and capabilities universities possess. Results also stress the need to look at contextual and normative factors.

Service Science Education: The Spanish Case

Since the Bologna Declaration, Europe has been involved in the process of creating the so-called European Higher Education Area (EHEA for short), characterized by two principal agreements: the adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees among European countries and the adoption of a system based on three cycles (grade, master and PhD). The result of this process is a system very close to the Anglo-Saxon model but very different from the continental one. Focusing on the Spanish case, the adoption of such scheme has meant the end of a long standing tradition of centralized definition of degrees, both in their names and in a large part of their contents but also a deeper change in pedagogical methods, from teaching methods to learning methods. In addition, for various reasons (out of the scope of this article), Spain has been among the last countries in the EHEA adoption, starting the masters level in 2006, and the undergraduates level in 2008. Taking into account the described context some questions arise: Is this a good context for the introduction of Service Science studies? If so, at which level of studies, at bachelor level, at masters level or at both levels? After a general description of the ongoing initiatives and actions in the Spanish University system related to the design of Service Science studies and more specifically, in the UPC, this paper discusses these queries in order to appraise the current situation of Spanish higher education system and the demands of professionals coming from its labor market. The article concludes with recommendations of the authors for introducing this discipline into the Spanish system

International Briefing 36: Training and Development in Ecuador.

This article examines educational policies in Ecuador. It outlines the main features of the education and training systems, and analyses the impact on productivity and national development. The efforts made by various national authorities to strengthen and encourage education at all levels is evident, as well as efforts to boost productivity by changing the productive mix. In conclusion, much effort has been made to move from an economy of finite resources based on the exploitation of natural resources, to an economy of infinite resources focused on generating knowledge.

International briefing 36: training and development in Ecuador: International briefing 36

This article examines educational policies in Ecuador. It outlines the main features of the education and training systems, and analyses the impact on productivity and national development. The efforts made by various national authorities to strengthen and encourage education at all levels is evident, as well as efforts to boost productivity by changing the productive mix. In conclusion, much effort has been made to move from an economy of finite resources based on the exploitation of natural resources, to an economy of infinite resources focused on generating knowledge.