'Global academy' to unlock AI and data potential

The Global Data Academy will cultivate data fluency in an era where data permeates every part of what Cambridge University Press & Assessment does.  

The Academy was launched during the inaugural Love to Learn Festival - a week-long programme of learning and development sessions for Cambridge colleagues around the world.  

Cambridge is working to empower every member of the organisation with the ability to think critically when using data and to embrace a data-driven culture. 

Mark Maddocks, Chief Information Officer at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, said: "Helping us all to pursue our potential by connecting us to learning opportunities is critical. We are an education organisation so empowering learning among our employees is a key factor for our success. The landscape in which we are doing business is rapidly changing. AI is swiftly becoming a disruptor for all knowledge-based organisations, and we need to innovate and adapt swiftly. So the creation of the Data Academy is an important part of our response."

The landscape in which we are doing business is rapidly changing. AI is swiftly becoming a disruptor for all knowledge-based organisations, and we need to innovate and adapt swiftly. So the creation of the Data Academy is an important part of our response.

In partnership with Cambridge Spark, a renowned organisation at the forefront of data science and AI education, Cambridge conducted more than 80 interviews with influential business leaders and data experts from around the globe and gained insights highlighting the vital importance of data analytics and machine learning skills in delivering business objectives, reaffirming the commitment to developing data-fluent teams.

The Global Data Academy launch came alongside the announcement of a Leadership and Management Academy, as well as plans for further academies including Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB), Finance, Product and Change.  

Janet Scotcher, Chief People Officer at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, said: "We're all starting to think about what skills we have and what skills we're going to need to have in the future, so it's incredibly important that as an employer, we offer our people those opportunities to learn, develop and understand the skills we'll need to navigate this journey, which we're all on." 

Nick Raikes, Assistant Director of Research, Data Science Unit, explains how the Global Data Academy can unlock potential through the power of data at Cambridge University Press & Assessment. 

What are the aims of the Global Data Academy and who is it for?

The overriding aim of the Global Data Academy is to help Cambridge University Press & Assessment become a more data-driven organisation. So, that means that our decisions are founded on analysing data, as well as expertise and judgement. This approach has already improved the quality of our decisions as an organisation, as well as our products and propositions for our global community of teachers, learners and researchers.  

Designed around five main data personas that came out of our research work, the Global Data Academy encourages everyone from complete novices to data scientists to upskill and create your own learning journey. Everyone will find something that’s useful for them in our academies as we all increasingly use data to make better business decisions and create data products for our customers. 

Why are data analytics and machine learning skills so important?

There is more opportunity to use data because there is much more data in the world. There’s been a lot of advances in the technology that we now use, which means that the data and emergent techniques now available have become increasingly more sophisticated. Machine learning and AI tools are based on learning from data in some form, however, just because we have lots of data it doesn’t mean that the data is necessarily high quality or representative. Data analytics and machine learning skills are vital in ensuring that we are able to not only select the right data, but so we can do far more with it.  

By scaling data education across all levels, we are fostering a community of data fluency and equipping our colleagues with the skills they need to make informed decisions. These skills are obviously really important to us as an organisation, but they’re also really important to us as individuals. We see these skills as important life skills that a lot of people are worried about, and Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to investing in our colleagues.    

In relation to how we at Cambridge leverage such skills, our teams actively work with AI and use it in our work. Our auto-marking capabilities for exams are built out on these techniques and will continue to become more accurate and efficient as we continue to innovate and integrate these systems.  

How does the Global Data Academy empower individuals at Cambridge?

You’ll find that there’s so much content available online, which can make it difficult to know what’s truly useful for you. The Global Data Academy offers major programmes, as well as relatively short bespoke pieces of learning that accurately identify learning needs and provide expertly curated content to help our people work confidently with data, make evidence-based decisions and top up their skills - all in one place. The Global Data Academy offers tailored programmes that cater to diverse roles and teams within our organisation.  

Collaboration is at the core of the Global Data Academy and a key aspect of that is our support for communities of practice where people can work to solve problems together. We are keen to encourage teams across our organisation to network, share best practice and break down information silos. At the same time, we are looking at how we can better join up roles that we have to make it easier for people to see a career pathway. By standardising the terminology we use to describe competencies, we are able to allow colleagues to see what opportunities are available to them and what they need to know to get to a particular point – making it easier for colleagues to plan and progress in their careers.

Learn more about what is like to work at Cambridge University Press & Assessment and discover opportunities to pursue your potential.