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Transversal skills in applied Artificial Intelligence - the case of the financial sector

Aleksandra Porjazoska Kujundziski, Ervin Domazet, Hiqmet Kamberaj, Damir Rahmani, Amra Abazi Feta, Francisco Lopez Valverde, Sergio Gálvez Rojas, Eduard Petlenkov, Kristina Vassiljeva, Ivan Štajduhar, Tobias Hagen, Anton Gradišek, Aleksander Zidanšek

Abstract

Different aspects of modern society can be transformed by the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI-powered tools have promoted changes in the financial industry by applying inventive methods for data analysis and automating processes, efficiency enhancement, cost reduction and more personalised services to customers. However, AI algorithms may activate significant ethical and regulatory concerns that should be addressed by the industry and society as a whole. In line with the Erasmus+ project Transversal Skills in Applied Artificial Intelligence - TSAAI (KA220-HED - Cooperation Partnerships in higher education), which aims to establish a training platform, this paper focuses on an analysis of study programmes in formal tertiary education across consortium countries (Spain, Estonia, North Macedonia, Croatia, Germany, and Slovenia) with a special focus on applied artificial intelligence and development of curriculum that will integrate teaching guidelines covering the areas of application of AI technology in the financial and insurance sectors. To this end, a Systematic Review of Literacy (SRL) on the web methodology identifying the existing employability requirements in AI and the Learning-Centred Syllabus (LCS) methodology for curriculum development was applied, with the presented curriculum expected to serve as a framework to develop teaching materials to help students, academics and employees enhance their professional skills, thus satisfying labour market needs.

Keywords: transversal skills, artificial intelligence, curriculum development; teaching platform, financial sector

References

AUTHORS

Aleksandra Porjazoska Kujundziski

The author completed her PhD in technical sciences (new materials - polymers) in 2006, at the University "Ss. Cyril & Methodius", Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Skopje, R. North Macedonia. Since 2010, Porjazoska Kujundziski has been working as a professor at the International Balkan University in Skopje. She is the author of many scientific papers published in journals and presented at conferences.

Ervin Domazet

The author is an assistant professor at the International Balkan University (IBU), Faculty of Engineering, Skopje, N. Macedonia. He obtained his doctorate at the University of Ss Cyril and Methodius (UKIM), Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Skopje, N. Macedonia. His research focus is on optimising the process of real-time eHealth applications. He has more than twenty papers published on Parallel Processing, Blockchain, IoT, and eHealth.

Hiqmet Kamberaj

The author is a professor at International Balkan University, Skopje, North Macedonia. He completed his PhD (in Computational Physics) in 2005 at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Post-Doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, and the National Institute of Nanotechnology (University of Edmonton). Hiqmet has published more than 60 articles and chapters in reputed journals, and authored six books published by internationally recognised publishers.

Damir Rahmani

The author is a teaching assistant at the International Balkan University in Skopje, North Macedonia. He graduated from the International Balkan University with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering in 2019, and later with a Master's degree in the same field in 2021. Damir is currently working on a PhD in the field of Computer Engineering. He has been working at the university for 4 years, during which time he has published several papers.

Amra Abazi Feta

The author is a teaching assistant at the International Balkan University in Skopje. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science Engineering from Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and a Master's degree from International Balkan University in the same field. She is currently a PhD student at the International Balkan University in Skopje, North Macedonia. Amra has a strong background in programming languages such as Java, C++, and Swift.

Francisco López Valverde

The author is a lecturer at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Malaga. Since 1994, his research career has focused on the application of artificial intelligence techniques, especially neural networks to various fields such as medicine and finance. He currently leads the applied artificial intelligence laboratory at the University of Malaga, UMA AI LAB.

Sergio Gálvez Rojas

The author is a Professor at the Languages and Computer Sciences Department of the Malaga University (Spain). He received his PhD (2000) degree in Computer Science from Malaga University (Spain). His research interests include optimisation of algorithms applied to bioinformatics, bioinformatics services, integration, and parallelisation of algorithms for many-core architectures. He is also the author of many lectures and books related to these technologies.

Eduard Petlenkov

The author is currently a Tenured Full Professor at the Department of Computer Systems, Tallinn University of Technology, and the Head of the Centre for Intelligent Systems. He received his B.Sc. (2001), M.Sc. (2003) and PhD (2007) degrees in computer and systems engineering from the Tallinn University of Technology. His main research interests include the domain of intelligent control, smart buildings, system analysis and computational intelligence.

Kristina Vassiljeva

The author is currently Associate Professor at the Centre for Intelligent Systems, Department of Computer Systems, Tallinn University of Technology. She earned her B.Sc. (2001), M.Sc. (2003), and PhD (2012) degrees in computer and systems engineering from the Tallinn University of Technology. Her primary areas of research focus on intelligent control systems, smart buildings, system analysis and computational intelligence.

Ivan Štajduhar

The author is CS professor and head of AIlab at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka. His research focuses on the development of ML-based solutions for medical diagnostics. He has been involved in several research projects funded by local, national and European funders, and has co-authored thirty articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Tobias Hagen

The author is a member of the Institute for Machine Learning and Analytics, and Professor of Business Information Systems at Offenburg University of Applied Sciences. His main areas of expertise are business analytics, data platforms, and the application of AI technology.

Anton Gradišek

The author received his doctorate in physics at the University of Ljubljana in 2012. In 2012-13, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Korea Basic Science Institute in South Korea, in 2014-15 as a Fulbright scholar at Washington University in Saint Louis in the USA. He is employed at the "Jožef Stefan" Institute. His areas of interest include material research for hydrogen technologies, liquid crystals, the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, and bumblebees.

Aleksander Zidanšek

The author is Vice Dean of the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, a researcher at Jožef Stefan Institute, a professor of Physics at the University of Maribor, an Associate Member of the Club of Rome, and a Fellow and Trustee of the World Academy of Art and Science. He is also a former Fulbright Fellow at Montana State University, USA.

About the article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15219/em104.1658

The article is in the printed version on pages 82-90.

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How to cite

Porjazoska Kujundziski, A., Domazet, E., Kamberaj, H., Rahmani, D., Feta, A. A., Valverde, F. L., Gálvez, S., Petlenkov, E., Vassiljeva, K., Štajduhar, I., Hagen, T., Gradišek, A., & Zidanšek, A. (2024). Transversal skills in applied Artificial Intelligence - the case of the financial sector. e-mentor, 2(104), 82-90. https://doi.org/10.15219/em104.1658